Once a month we share here all the news in global trade and logistics that attracted our attention. Catch up, if you are not signed up for our Fecebook or LinkedIn pages.
News of boxed rail freight
peak season surcharge shocked shippers in India
At the very
end of September, it was announced that since October 1, the traditional “busy
season surcharge” would be implemented on containerized rail freight. Indian Railways said the 10% surcharge would
run until further notice.
According
to the Loadstar, this had never happened before. Container freight, as well as road
freight, had always been exempt from the peak season surcharges traditionally
introduced from October to June each year.
The
implementation of the surcharge was met with protests from the Association of
Container Train Operators (ACTO). They insisted that the move was
discriminating against the container sector, which would harm their efforts to
attract cargo migration from road to rail.
RCL to open first
direct route from Qingdao to Dar Es Salam
In November, the
Thailand-based RCL shipping line will launch a new Far East-Africa (REA)
shipping service that will connect Qingdao, China, and Dar es Salam, Tanzania.
The rotation will
take 56 days and will go as follows: Qingao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Nansha, Port
Klang, Mombasa, Dar Es Salaam, Port Klang, and Qingdao.
RCL says they will
put one vessel of their own on the new service next to the vessels from Emirates
Shipping Line, Global Feeder Shipping, Interasia Lines, KMTC Line, and TS
Lines.
The line aims to
expand its services to East Africa but also has plans for land-locked countries
like Uganda and Rwanda.
India poised to
overtake Japan as the world’s third-largest economy by 2030
India is
currently in the fifth place with a GDP of $3.5 trillion. The country has had
two very successful years of rapid economic growth (2021 and 2022). It is
expected to become the fastest-growing major economy when this fiscal year ends
in March of 2024, with its GDP growing somewhere between 6.2% and 6.3%.
Overall,
both the short-term and long-term outlooks for India are very positive,
according to S&P. In the last decade, India has seen an influx of foreign
direct investments; its middle class is growing rapidly, which fuels consumer
spending. By 2030, the country’s projected GDP should reach $7.3 trillion.
Global blueberry trade
to decline for the first time in history
Blueberry has been the most trending berry of the last two decades, with new plantations established wherever it can grow. But, according to the report from EastFruit, in the 2023-2024 season we will see the blueberry trade decline.
The demand for the
very expensive and popular berry is as high as ever, but its production has dwindled
this year in Peru, bringing down the whole market with it. Peru is the largest
producer of blueberries, accounting for 30% of global blueberry exports.
The drop in Peru’s
production is explained, in short, by climate change and specifically the natural phenomenon El Niño. They led to an abnormally high
temperature that harmed the yields.
