Ocean Freight

In May, a major Chinese port shut down its operations for 20-days due to a COVID-19 outbreak among its dock workers. That in turn caused an even longer aftershock. Situated about 50 miles north of Hong Kong, the Port of Yantian handles enough goods to fill 36,000, 20-foot tractor trailers...

October Update Brazil's Petrobras sees fuel demand that could affect future logistics prices Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras said October 18th, it has received "atypical demand" for fuel supplies in November that surpasses its production capacity. The company has been operating its refineries with a capacity factor of 90% in...

By putting data into the hands of the companies, business partners, and customers that want it, supply chain visibility helps all stakeholders track products from the point of manufacture to the final destination—and all points in between. This “Holy Grail” of global supply chain management has been talked about for...

If 2020 was the year for pandemic-driven disruption for organizations around the globe, then 2021 is the year when those interruptions trickled down into the world’s supply chains. From product shortages to port congestion to an ocean container shortage, the number of obstacles standing in the way of an easy...

Sales of electric vehicles are rising worldwide and on track to make up 58% of all passenger vehicle sales by 2040. Loved for their eco-friendly status and the fact that they don’t require expensive trips to the gas station, plug-in electric vehicles can reduce emissions and even save their owners...

Container shortages, capacity constraints, higher shipping costs, and ongoing impacts of the global pandemic all placed new challenges in front of ocean shippers last year. Those roadblocks have yet to be removed in 2021, although some early signs of relief are beginning to surface. The problem is that the shortage—among...

Coming into 2020, the world’s ocean shippers were bracing themselves for what would be a fundamental change to the way their ships operate on the high seas. That’s because beginning January 1, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), would limit the amount of sulfur in fuel oil to  0.50% m/m (mass...

Peter Nordstrom joined DB Schenker as the Regional Head of Ocean Product across the Americas in early-2020. At the time, COVID-19 was largely relegated to China and had yet to begin wreaking havoc on nearly every country around the world. Responsible for developing and implementing ocean freight strategies—including preferred carrier...

There were winners and losers as the busiest cargo ports across North America and South America competed in 2018 to accommodate big ships — and even bigger trade policy changes There was a time when the Americas (or North America and South America combined) was a major geographic inconvenience for...

With IMO 2020 looming, shippers should be keeping a close eye on how carriers, shippers, and refiners are responding to the new 0.5% global sulphur cap. With the International Maritime Organization’s new 0.5% mass by mass (m/m) global sulphur cap on fuel content (down from a current 3.5%) on track...