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On 24 August, the Financial Times issued an opinion on how the push from the shipping industry to decarbonise their fleets could slow freight rates’ downturn in the long term. The column referred to the announcement by Maersk of a $1.4 billion investment in carbon-neutral ships, run on “green” methanol, produced by anaerobic digestion and other means.

The ever-increasing ocean freight rates have led to an unexpected consequence: According to Vespucci Maritime, the disparity of rates measured by the container index providers has widened, which can lead to difficulty and confusion to properly measure the correct price for a spot shipment.

Following a closure of multiple weeks due to damage that occurred on its Belgian section during the floods of July, the North Sea – Mediterranean rail freight corridor has become operational again on 16 August.

Transporeon published last week its latest Transport Market Monitor which shows that shortage in capacity is driving European road freight spot prices close to a three-year high. The analysis is based on road transportation data of more than 1.8 million freight loads on the spot market per year which was updated earlier this month.

Ocean freight rates are still rising and are not expected to decrease any time soon. According to analyst Drewry, their World Container Index increased by 2% or $192 this week, to $9,613 per forty-foot container. Compared to the same week last year, this represents a 360% increase, and marks the 18th consecutive week of increases.

Chris Bryant from Bloomberg Opinion reported on 19 August about the current situation in liner shipping, the potential long-term consequences and what can be done by the carriers to improve their image towards consumers and policymakers. The article recalls the extraordinary financial results shipping lines will realise this year, thanks to ever-increasing freight rates: container lines could collectively make $100 billion in operating income in 2021, according to Drewry.

The port authority in Ningbo, China announced this week that it is planning a phased resumption at Meishan Terminal, which was closed on 11 August after a dock worker tested positive for coronavirus. Since then, no new cases have been detected, according to health authorities. Nevertheless, the delays and rerouting that ensued from the shutdown will continue to reverberate throughout other ports and continually cause congestion in the global supply chains.

On 19 August, the European Commission published the inception Impact Assessment for the revision of the Combined Transport Directive (Directive 92/106/EEC). The revision of the CT Directive will be carried out in an integrated approach with a number of other policies, including, inter alia, the planned revisions of the TEN-T Guidelines and the Rail Freight Corridors Regulation.