What’s going on in freight

The Gulf got more dangerous for cargo even as oil fell on deal hopes: the US struck Iran’s Qeshm Island, a seafarer died off Oman, and Iran’s blacklist now names containerships. Elsewhere, more carriers are heading back through Suez into a market with too many ships, US transport prices are running far ahead of capacity, and Expeditors’ results show air space is still the scarce thing.

War, chokepoints and disruption

• US forces struck an Iranian anti-aircraft site on Qeshm Island, on the north side of the Strait of Hormuz, on the night of 2 November, the same day an Indian dhow was hit off Limah, Oman, and one crewman died. Brent had just fallen 7.6% to $104.77 on hopes of a deal. (HNGN, The Maritime Executive, CBS News) Our story →
• Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority added 114 vessels to its “non-compliant” list on Monday, bringing it to 240, and four of them are containerships. Iran says ships that work with a listed vessel, including through transshipment, will be added too. (The Maritime Executive) Our story →
• Russia and Ukraine hit 317 merchant and other vessels in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov from May to October, up from 74 in the previous six months, Ambrey Analytics told Reuters. Boxes from the sunk Contship Jet are washing up in Bulgaria. (gCaptain (Reuters), The Maritime Executive) Our story →
• Hapag-Lloyd and ONE now expect “the vast majority of the cargo to be either severely damaged by the fire or a total loss” on the 11,800 TEU Espirito Santo Express, which caught fire on 15 October on its way from Asia to Santos, Brazil. (The Maritime Executive) Our story →

Rates and markets

• Evergreen resumes Suez transits this week, the last OCEAN Alliance carrier back, Linerlytica says, and the 1 November rate hikes are “failing to gain traction”. Houthi forces may have taken a district 40 miles from Aden, The Maritime Executive reported, citing unconfirmed Reuters reports. (Linerlytica, The Maritime Executive) Our story →
• The October Logistics Managers’ Index put US transportation prices at 88 and capacity at 38, and inventory costs hit 88.8, the highest since March 2022. EIA put diesel at $6.292 a gallon, down 6 cents on the week. (The LMI, FreightWaves, U.S. EIA) Our story →
• Shenzhen’s container terminals may stop accepting export cargo from 16 to 20 November while the city hosts the APEC summit, Dimerco said; no port notice confirms it yet. Dimerco says the US air rally “has peaked, but space isn’t opening up.” (Dimerco) Our story →

Forwarders, carriers and deals

• Expeditors’ third-quarter revenue rose 42% to $4.11bn, and its air tonnage rose 19% in September alone; the company says air rates “remained elevated” with “demand outpacing available capacity”. (Expeditors (SEC)) Our story →
• GXO grew organic revenue 6.4% in the third quarter to $3.59bn of sales, but adjusted EBITDA stayed flat at $251m and its margin slipped from 7.4% to 7.0%. (GlobeNewswire) Our story →

Software, AI and automation

• Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen says volumes are up 40% year on year while headcount rose only 5%, and credits AI. He also claims a 0.2% customs error rate against 20% in rival entries Flexport audited. (FreightWaves) Our story →
• project44 says new annual recurring revenue from shippers rose 49% year on year in its fiscal third quarter, but gives no dollar base; its transport management system now covers air and ocean as well as trucking. (GlobeNewswire (project44)) Our story →

Coming up

• Tuesday 10 November: next EIA weekly diesel price Our story →
• Thursday 12 November: Evergreen’s new China–Red Sea OGRD service starts from Qingdao Our story →
• Monday 16 November: GXO Investor Day in New York Our story →
• 16–20 November: possible halt to export gate-ins at Shenzhen terminals Our story →
• 18–19 November: APEC summit in Shenzhen Our story →
• December: Yang Ming due to resume Suez transits Our story →