World Logistics Update Weekly
  • HHLA’s operating profit for the first quarter is a quarter less than last year.
  • The total volume of global container shipping in the first quarter of 2024 amounted to 43.4 million TEU.
  • India has signed an agreement with Iran on the management of the Chabahar port for a period of 10 years.
  • The rates for container transportation have reached a peak level, and the capacities of shipping companies are now strained to the limit due to high demand.
  • Multimodal transportation operator Hannibal (a subsidiary of Contship Holding) will open a cargo route between Italy, Hungary and Romania.
  • Maersk has improved its performance forecasts again due to the attacks in the Red Sea.
  • China, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan have signed an agreement on the construction of the railway between the three countries.
  • Operail, the Estonian state-owned rail freight operator, is for sale. The government approved the imminent privatisation of the company. It has struggled to maintain profitability following sanctions against Russia and Belarus.
  • ÖBB’s cargo subsidiary Rail Cargo Group (RCG) is creating a joint venture with Serbian logistics company Transfera. The enterprise will be headquartered in Belgrade and initially focus on intermodal transport.
  • For the second year in a row, Latvia’s rail freight numbers have worsened significantly. In the first four months of 2024, the overall transported volume of rail freight declined by 25,3 per cent compared with the same period last year.
  • The Baltic states’ premier infrastructure project, Rail Baltica, is at risk because its estimated cost has soared 400% over the last seven years, potentially leading to a budget shortfall of €10bn-19 bn, according to a joint report by the state audit offices of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
  • The railway between China and Laos has moved 8 million tonnes of goods since the start of operations on the route, according to Chinese data.
  • The Spanish transport ministry is putting out a tender for a feasibility study for the reopening of the Pau-Canfranc rail line between France and Spain, as well as a direct connection of the line with the Mediterranean Corridor. The study is supposed to research the effect of the infrastructure plans on the circulation of goods via rail.
  • Norwegian rail operator Onrail will take over the Oslo-Narvik freight route. The company will now gain DB Schenker as a customer. Other companies did not manage to propose financially attractive enough deals to the German logistics company.