
The global economy faces warnings of potential fragmentation, as highlighted by the World Trade Organization with wars and climate change posing long term threats. These concerns loom even as the U.S. economy defies recession predictions, boasting almost 5% growth in the third quarter, fueled by higher wages and strong consumer spending. In contrast, Germany’s economy shrank, raising concerns about a recession in Europe. In Africa, National GDPs look set for the best pos-pandemic fortunes, with several countries poised for strong growth. In contrast, China’s provincial economies struggle to maintain momentum in the post-pandemic recovery.
Within the industry, excess capacity in the shipping market is expected to persist into 2024. Although Chinese ports experienced a rise in container volume and China’s new land-sea corridor sees increased container throughput, a new all-cargo air route connecting China’s Zhejiang to Mexico lends weight to persistent overcapacity. In North America, freight markets may be headed for an inflection as Canada’s railroads anticipate emergence from a freight recession and the latest For-Hire Trucking Index suggests a gradually improving freight market in the U.S.. However, while LTL carriers gain freight and hike rates, a clear predictable recovery remains elusive.
Weekly Highlights
World: WTO chief warns on ‘very costly’ fragmentation of global economy
Europe: German inflation eases in October to lowest level in two years
Asia: New all-cargo air route links China’s Zhejiang, Mexico
US: LTL carriers gaining freight and hiking rates, but real recovery is elusive
US: Latest For-Hire Trucking Index suggests gradually improving freight market
Economic News
World: WTO chief warns on ‘very costly’ fragmentation of global economy
The global economy has not embraced decoupling but is showing signs of fragmentation, which would be “very costly” for all, World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said on Sunday… Read more
US: Economy delivers blockbuster performance in third quarter
The U.S. economy grew almost 5% in the third quarter, again defying dire warnings of a recession, as higher wages from a tight labor market helped to fuel consumer spending and businesses restocked at a brisk clip to meet the strong demand… Read more
World: Charting the Global Economy: Inflation Picks Up in US, Tokyo
US underlying inflation picked up along with consumer spending as the third quarter drew to a close, government figures showed ahead of the Federal Reserve’s penultimate policy meeting of the year… Read more
Europe: German inflation eases in October to lowest level in two years
Inflation in Germany eased noticeably in October, falling to its lowest level since August 2021, pointing to a substantial cooling in headline inflation in the euro zone. German inflation eased in October to 3.0%, the federal statistics office said on Monday… Read more
Europe: Biggest economy shrank in the third quarter, spelling trouble for the region
Output in Germany fell in the third quarter, official data showed Monday, increasing the risk of a recession in Europe’s biggest economy. Gross domestic product dropped 0.1% in the July-to-September period compared with the previous quarter, when it grew 0.1%, according to Germany’s Federal Statistical Office (Destatis)… Read more
Africa: Africa’s GDPs Exit the Pandemic Era Second to None
For all of Covid-19’s disruptions, one trend during the global pandemic presses on unabated. And that would be five of the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies continue to be based in Africa and at least several more on the continent over the next two years are poised to outperform the world… Read more
Asia: China’s Provincial Economies Fall Off the Pace in First Nine Months
In the first nine months, just 11 out of 31 provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland saw their year-on-year GDP growth outperform that of the first half, data from local authorities showed, as the world’s second-largest economy struggles to build momentum for its post-pandemic recovery… Read more
Industry News
World: Excess capacity likely to continue into 2024
As significant excess capacity enters the shipping market – with the same predicted for next year – the big question facing analysts is when the overcapacity market will balance again. The most positive scenario, says CEO of maritime consultancy Sea-Intelligence, is container volume growth of 3.8% year-on-year from 2024… Read more
Asia: China’s new land-sea corridor transports over 700,000 teu
According to the statistics released by China Railway Nanning Group, container throughput on China’s new land-sea trade corridor increased 14.8% year-on-year. Launched in 2017, the new international land-sea trade corridor is a trade and logistics platform jointly developed by provinces in western China and ASEAN countries… Read more
Asia: New all-cargo air route links China’s Zhejiang, Mexico
A new all-cargo air route was launched Sunday between Hangzhou, the capital of east China’s Zhejiang Province, and Mexico City. It is the first all-cargo round-trip air route linking Zhejiang and Mexico. The service, operated by MasAir using Airbus A330 aircraft, will run three times a week with a maximum one-way cargo capacity of about 60 tonnes… Read more
Canada: Railroads set to emerge from freight recession
Steve Hansen, equity analyst at Raymond James Ltd., talks to the Financial Post’s Larysa Harapyn about the state of Canada’s rail freight industry, addresses the impact of theSt. Lawrence Seaway strike on the country’s supply chains and explains when he expects railroads to get back to growth… Read more
US: LTL carriers gaining freight and hiking rates, but real recovery is elusive
While large less-than-truckload (LTL) trucking companies are reporting higher shipment counts following the collapse of Yellow, without actual growth in underlying LTL freight demand from manufacturing or retailers, those gains are not signs of a true recovery, trucking executives said this week… Read more
China: Ports container volume rises 5.2% from January to September 2023
From January to September of 2023, the cargo volume of Chinese ports was 12540.2 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 8.5%; the container throughput of Chinese ports was 230.7 million TEU, a year-on-year increase of 5.2%… Read more
US: Latest For-Hire Trucking Index suggests gradually improving freight market
The latest release of ACT Research’s For-Hire Trucking Index shows continued improvement in freight volumes, pricing and driver availability. The Volume Index fell 4.9 points in September to 49.5 seasonally adjusted (SA), from 54.4 in August… Read more
Technology Updates
CS X and Siemens Mobility to Deploy Digital Solutions for Freight Rail
North American Class I freight railroad company, CSX has expanded its partnership with Siemens Mobility to implement digital solutions for freight rail… Read more
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