Container Shipping Capacity In 2020

Throughout 2020 there have been cuts to container shipping capacity worldwide and from China in particular as shipping lines match supply to demand. Although demand has increased recently, it is neither easy nor straightforward for shipping lines to add additional ships, especially at short notice. It is anticipated that there will be a severe shortage of container capacity on ships from China to Europe especially, which will only ease after the Chinese New Year which starts in January 2021.

Plan Shipping In Advance

It is important to plan ahead and book container space at least 14 days prior to a ship departing, if possible. Many carriers are imposing surcharges due to this peak season, or, alternatively increasing their basic freight rate. On top of this you should expect to see congestion surcharges from Mid-November, as shipping lines seek to recover their costs for ships queuing to dock at congested UK ports – as per our previous news article.

Slow Unloading At Ports

We are also experiencing slower unloading of ships at UK, primarily due to restrictions on staff working due to the current pandemic. This means you should allow extra time from the ship arriving, to you receiving your container, or part load delivery. You may notice delays of between two and five days.

Air freight

Air freight is seeing a similar surge and as normally the majority of airfreight flies on passenger aircraft, (most of which are still not operating) there are also delays and rate increases as the backlog builds up. It may be the case that the sea freight situation is causing some imports into the UK to divert from sea freight to air freight and we hear (for example), Apple have decided to send all production by air for the time being, including their new iphone12. Therefore please prepare for longer transit times than you may have expected as well as increases in prices, at least in the short term.

For all Air Freight or Sea Freight enquiries, please contact us for help and advice.

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There are huge logistical challenges in getting PPE from China to the UK as most regular flights have now been grounded, leaving the few freighter aircraft in use to operate along with a selection of passenger aircraft that are carrying cargo only at the present time.

This in no way amounts to a normal service with 95% of British Airways’ planes still grounded as an example.

Arranging Air freight

Through this challenging situation K&L Freight have arranged many air freights during April & May from he ports around, China direct to the UK for its customers – all of whom are supplying these vital products direct to the NHS.

K&L Freight have built up a wealth of knowledge and experience in charters and part charters of flights for PPE, as well as and probably more importantly the various onerous rules and regulations imposed by the Chinese government that apply to all PPE and cosmetic mask exports from China.

If you are involved in the supply of PPE and are looking for a freight and logistics partner, get in touch with us today and see how we can assist you with your importing requirements.

Yopu can use the instant chat form to talk directly to our import and export freight experts, call us on 01606 ​272​ 880 or email on sales@klfreight.com. We are waiting for your enquiry.

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The Challenge was to simplify a customers’ supply chain that had grown without any focus on the planning of how orders are sent from China.

We find this often happens with companies that set up and then have rapidly expanded.

The company’s initial emphasis is quite rightly on sales and growing the business. It’s only when the growth curve settles a little and the business matures do minds turn to procedures and processes needed to make a business more efficient to facilitate the next phase of growth.

Business Growth

Our customer had grown rapidly, supplying gift items and electrical goods from various suppliers across the Pearl Delta area in South China to customers and on-line retailers in the UK.

UK Freight Locations

There was no plan in place, which led to problems with suppliers arranging themselves and the result was airfreight arriving into London, Leeds and Birmingham without a plan.

This left our customer losing control of what was being sent and when it was being received.

In addition there were delays in some products leaving China as each individual product type needed an export licence.

Import Efficiency

This way of importing freight was not efficient. It increased costs in the supply chain and created delays for urgent products.

Being in a fast moving sector where speed to market is vital in generating more sales at full price, these delays and extra costs were making this impossible to achieve.

Not only were products arriving late and missing sales windows, being behind the curve in this way meant discounted selling.

Supply Chain Managment

K&L Freight with their years of experience in South China & Hong Kong, including many trips to the area were invited to re-think and re-engineer the supply chain.

The first objective was to get all suppliers to deliver to a master supplier in China, meaning they only had to be responsible for a domestic delivery in China and so could concentrate on their core business – manufacturing.

The master supplier was then tasked with making ready all orders available for a once per week despatch to be sent by truck over the border to Hong Kong. From Hong Kong this collation of orders is now sent on the direct Cathay Pacific flight to Manchester.

Efficient Supply Chain Process

This new, improved process speeded up the whole operation with orders taken during the week being trucked to Hong Kong overnight and flown straight out to the UK in bulk as one large shipment.

This new process meant that delivery could be made to customers across the UK as early as Tuesday of the following week.

The result was from chaos order was restored. In addition, our customer could see all orders booked each week using K&L Freight’s on line tracking & reporting systems that operate in real time.

In an industry where first to market wins and new products are introduced all the time, with old ones withdrawn just as quickly, our customer has gained a market leading position.

This has enabled them to grow by beating their competitors to market whilst passing the responsibility of the supply chain to K&L Freight.

See more about our Importing From China services and get in touch with our friendly team with any questions.

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We are often asked “how much does Air freight forwarding cost?”. The answer may surprise you, as small commercial shipments can work out cheaper on Air Freight Charges than Sea Freight. The reason for this is that Sea Freight has a minimum charge charge of 1 tonne, whereas Air
Freight minimum charges are typically 20 kilos.

<h3>What Is The Chargeable Weight For Air Freight?

You may ask “What Is The Chargeable Weight For Air Freight?”. If you are wondering what this means, all modes of transport have a chargeable weight, normally set by convention. For air freight it is 6000 cubic centimeters per kilo, so for example a shipment that has a volume of 60000 cubic centimeters would have a chargeable weight of 60 kilos. If the shipment has a gross weight of 30 kgs, you would be charged as if it where 60 kilos. For Sea Freight the chargeable weight is 1 cubic metre / tonne whichever is greater, so the allowance is only one 6th of that for Air Freight.

Therefore Air Freight Shipping is much more generous for large volume / low weight shipments, which will probably come as no surprise as weight = extra fuel burn = extra costs.

Is Air Freight More Expensive Than Sea Freight?

This is a tricky question! There are so many variables at play

when it comes to Air Freight charges that each situation and requirement is different. Air Freight charges depend on the volume vs dead weight, and then on how much is being sent. There is a cross over point on the economics of shipping by air or by sea that depends on these factors, also considering the origin and destination. It really is not straightforward!

As an example, it is often cheaper for us to send the same shipment of goods by air to Hong Kong than it is to Israel, but Sea freight is the other way around.

There are many examples like this. K&L Freight deal with these situations daily and can work out the most cost effective way to get your goods from point A to point B, often sending part loads by air, and the remaining stock by sea so that it you have enough product to get going, but don’t pay the full air freight price for all of your goods.

Please email or call K&amp;L Freight for help and advise.

What Are The Air Cargo Types?

If you do decide to use Air freight you may ask “What Are The Types Of Air Cargo?”</strong> You may be surprised to know that most air freight travels on passenger services.

The reason for this is that most passenger services have spare capacity in their hold, with passenger bags only taking a fraction of the space. As the passengers are largely paying for the flight this has led to Cheap Air Cargo rates – far cheaper than a pure cargo plane can offer.

Cargo Aircraft are now mainly used for overflow traffic on busy routes or urgent courier freight that does not fit passenger airline schedules. Occasionally, cargo aircraft are used for moving Dangerous Goods By Air that are prohibited in law from being loaded on passenger flights.

Looking for an air freight forwarding company? To guide you through the most economic ways to send air freight or Sea Freight consult the experts, K&L Freight.

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As new business manager, he will manage a variety of high-profile accounts and continue to increase the number of clients seeking international sea freight and air freight shipping services.

“We’re delighted that Mark has chosen to continue his career at K&L Freight,” says Director, Chris Wood. “His knowledge and expertise in the international logistics industry will allow us to continue to expand the range of import export services available to our clients.”

Mark was most recently a branch manager with respected international shipping firm, Denholm Global Logistics, where he was employed as a branch manager and oversaw client services and operations.

Chris added: Mark is highly regarded in the international logistics industry and the network of key relationships that he has developed over the years will be a great asset to our company and the clients we serve. We believe his skills and experience will strengthen our client services team and allow us to continue our ambitious growth plans.”

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