What’s going on in freight

Iran has put a two-day Hormuz reopening on the table while its leadership prepares for more strikes, and the Saudi–Houthi war has reached a working Red Sea oil terminal. In the US, tariff deadlines are stacking up around Tuesday’s midterms, from Canada and China to Vietnam, while Japan gets another forwarder deal.

War, chokepoints and disruption

• Iran says it could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days of the US accepting its conditions, down from seven, but security chief Mohsen Rezaei wants transits on an Iran–Oman route “under Iranian management”. On 31 October Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei ordered commanders to update target lists. (Madhyamam, Euronews) Our story →
• The Saudi-led coalition announced a “precision military operation” against Houthi missile and drone resources on 1 November, and Houthi media claimed strikes hit a berth at the Ras Isa oil terminal and a commercial ship docked there. (Xinhua, House of Saud) Our story →
• Ukraine’s Zelensky said on 31 October that he and Türkiye’s Erdogan agreed “to work on the Black Sea grain corridor”, but Ankara says neither Russia nor Ukraine has acted on its proposal to stop ship attacks. MSC’s $200-per-container Black Sea surcharge to North Europe started on 1 November. (Al Jazeera, MSC) Our story →
• National Rail now expects disruption near Barking, where a London Gateway freight train derailed on 23 October, until at least the end of 10 November. Hapag-Lloyd has suspended London Gateway rail and stopped taking new carrier haulage bookings. (National Rail, Container News) Our story →

Tariffs, customs and policy

• Trump said on 1 November that the US and Canada have “the concept of a deal” that includes Canada building Keystone XL, and Carney said teams will work “in the coming weeks” to deliver it. No rate, list or date has changed, so the 50% Section 338 duty still applies. (Lethbridge Herald (Canadian Press), Investing.com (Reuters)) Our story →
• The 178 remaining Section 301 exclusions on Chinese goods expire at 11:59 p.m. Eastern on Monday 9 November, and no extension notice had been published by late October. Without one, entries from 10 November pay 25%, or 7.5% for List 4A. (ICPA, Peacock Tariff Consulting) Our story →
• Democrats need a net gain of four seats in each chamber on 3 November to take Congress, Reuters reports, and would still be far short of a veto-proof majority to repeal tariffs. (GV Wire (Reuters)) Our story →
• Tesla and Samsung’s US unit oppose new tariffs in the US intellectual-property probe of Vietnam, which must finish by 29 November. Vietnamese goods already pay a 12.5% general tariff, and Vietnam’s exports to the US rose 42% in January–August. (Reuters via The Jakarta Post) Our story →

Forwarders, carriers and deals

• Mitsubishi Logistics agreed on 30 October to buy Osaka forwarder Hankyu Hanshin Express for ¥120.11bn, about 5.2 times net assets, adding an air-heavy forwarding book to its sea-heavy one. Closing is planned for January–March 2027. (LOGISTICS TODAY, The Shashi) Our story →
• Schneider National is moving its eastern intermodal business, about 26,800 containers and 23,900 chassis, from CSX to Norfolk Southern; FreightWaves reports start dates of both November and January. (FreightWaves, AJOT) Our story →
• COSCO Shipping Ports’ Abu Dhabi terminal handled 97,734 TEU in the third quarter, down 76.4%, while its Jeddah terminal rose 19.8% to 899,226 TEU and its Suez Canal terminal rose 8.4%. (Container News) Our story →

Coming up

• Tue 3 Nov: US midterm elections
• Mon 9 Nov, 11:59 p.m. ET: 178 China Section 301 exclusions expire
• Tue 10 Nov: Barking rail disruption expected to last until at least the end of the day
• Sun 29 Nov: deadline to conclude the Section 301 probe of Vietnam
• Jan–Mar 2027: planned closing of Mitsubishi Logistics–Hankyu Hanshin Express