The world's largest collection of global supply chain intelligence
An insight into the short-term future of sea container freight rates was given by Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd, during his presentation around Hapag-Lloyd’s first quarter results on Tuesday (14/5). He commented that Hapag Lloyd would continue to “re-route ships through the Cape of Good Hope for the time being and it is difficult to predict when that will change.”
Maersk’s first quarter 2025 numbers saw a 7.8% increase in revenue year-on-year to US$13.3bn and a recovery in profits, with EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Depreciation and Amortisation) up 70% year-on-year at US$2.71bn.
As has been the case for much of the past eighteen-months, the situation in the seas around Yemen is confused.
DSV has finally absorbed Schenker. A statement from the Copenhagen based logistics provider announcing the formal merger of the two companies on 30th April commented that it had “a long track-record of successfully integrating acquired companies as an integral part of the company’s growth strategy”, which is certainly true.
The pain of UPS’ strategy of improving margins has begun to bite. Alongside the release of UPS’ quarterly results, the CEO, Carol Tome and the Chief Financial Officer, Brian Dykes announced a further stage of the ‘Network Reconfiguration and Efficiency Reimagined’ project that would result in what it described as “164 operational closures including 74 building closures”, a reduction in operational working hours by 25 million hours and a reduction in “operational positions” by 20,000.
Kuehne+Nagel (K+N) has seen an up-turn in its business. The company’s first quarter 2025 results published last week saw both higher sales and higher profits.
“While global trade remains integral to the logistics ecosystem, U.S. logistics real estate demand is fundamentally anchored in domestic consumption” is the conclusion of a piece of analysis that has just been published by the logistics property provider, Prologis. If true, it is an important insight for judging the prospects of the logistics sector both in the US and elsewhere.
In a “service update” on its US website, DHL Group said that it would “temporarily suspend the collection and shipping of business-to-consumer (B2C) shipments to private individuals in the United States where the declared customs value exceeds USD 800”.
The US trucking market is still difficult if the latest numbers from J.B. Hunt are an accurate guide, although the pessimism can be overdone.
The perspective of Walmart during the presentation of its Financial Year 2025 results last week was a useful insight into how one of the world’s important shippers views its prospects.
Trump’s ship tariffs may be changing. Amongst the storm of new tariffs and trade policies bursting forth from the US over the past few weeks, there has been some qualification over the suggested levies on ships entering US ports.
The growth of the two large Chinese e-retailers Temu and Shein, has transformed clothing sales and with it, air freight across much of the world.
