G6 reveals rotations for 12 Asia-USWC, 5 transatlantic
services in second quarter

MEMBERS of the G6 shipping Alliance - APL, Hapag-Lloyd, Hyundai, MOL, NYK and OOCL - have unveiled their proposed service expansion into the Asia-North America west coast and transatlantic trade lanes, and the combined 17 services are scheduled to start in the second quarter.
G6 members will market these services individually, as they do today, with a proposed expansion offering 29 services covering all three major east-west trade lanes.
"Further, each of the G6 Alliance members will be able to offer improved port-pair connections compared to their previous products," said the press release. >More
 

Global indicators as well as US domestic growth give
reason to hope for buoyant consumer demand

BUSINESS orders for goods and services of all descriptions remain one of the most reliable leading indicators of future economic direction, and recent readings show that orders have been moving upwards, according to Export Development Canada (EDC).
EDC chief economist Peter Hall sees that the upward movement spans multiple regions of the world and a large variety of industries. "Sustained growth going forward will tell the tale for global growth," he said.
While he is pleased that the growing sophistication of emerging markets is producing solid data to work with, Mr Hall also finds more sustainable reasons to be positive from assessing global freight movements. >More
 

PInfluential US shipping blog remains sanguine on container growth in 2014

NEW YORK's Maritime Professional is predicting a more than three per cent in US container traffic in 2014 based on the statements from the Transpacific Stablization Agreement (TSA), the Journal of Commerce and the National Retail Federation as well as other indications.
"Two of the most authoritative forecasts are by the National Retail Federation and the Journal of Commerce. The Journal's economics forecaster, Mario Moreno, reckons container imports will grow six per cent this year to 19 million TEU, following a 3.5 per cent rise in 2013," said the article by Martin Rushmore. >More
 

Suez vs Panama question: Once subliminal discussions now break into open debate

SIGNS of a subliminal the battle of ideas that has been going for years between proponents of the Suez or Panama canals for delivery of Asian cargo to the US east coast, recently broke into the open at the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) convention in Tampa.
It has long been known that the Panama expansion to more than double its capacity loomed, and still looms, as a serious threat to LA-Long Beach, and indeed to all US west coast ports, in their role as the main gateway to the consumer-rich heartlands east of the Mississippi because of high overland rail and road costs. >More