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UPS goes in court bid to recover tariff payments ruled 'unlawful'

UPS has its sights set on US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), launching legal action against the agency to reclaim refunds and interest for tariffs paid under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), with it having already received some $500m. Filed at the US Court of International Trade on Friday, the lawsuit seeks to compel CBP to re-liquidate entries and issue refunds, not only for duties paid, but also accrued interest, after the US Supreme Court ruled the tariffs unlawful in February. The lawsuit covers entries for which UPS was the 'importer of record' (IOR), allowing it to claim refunds directly from CBP, although the integrator noted that, in many cases, it was customers that had borne the cost of the duties. It said it would pass any recovered funds to them. Together with UPS, United Parcel Service Oasis Supply Corp and UPS Supply Chain Solutions are seeking the re-liquidation of entries on which the 'unlawful' duties were assessed, including those that have already been finally liquidated. Under the CBP's phased Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE), April's Phase 1 covered unliquidated entries and certain entries liquidated within the previous 80 days, Phase 2 followed in June, with Phase 3 opening last month. This covers finally liquidated entries, but refunds can only be processed where the importer has obtained an order for re-liquidation from the Court of International Trade - CBP maintains that such an order is required before it can repay the duties. Pointing to previous assurances from the government that refunds, including interest, would be made if the IEEPA tariffs were found unlawful, UPS said its claim was intended to preserve its own and its customers' rights to recover the money. Having received some $500m from CBP under the tariff refund programme, UPS's latest quarterly filings indicated that, by the start of October, it had passed on around $230m, with $270m still owed to customers.

Atlas Air adds Incheon cargo terminal

Atlas Air Worldwide has opened a new cargo terminal at Incheon International (ICN) in partnership with Sharp Aviation K to cater for growth in its Asia business. The new Cargo Terminal 3 measures 19,320 sq m and adds 180,000 tons of annual handling capacity. The terminal will expand Atlas' pharma capabilities by adding a 2,900 sq m cool chain complex. The facility will be operated by Atlas Air Cargo Terminals (AACT), a joint venture between Atlas Air Worldwide and Sharp Aviation K. AACT, established by Atlas and Sharp in 2007, now operates three cargo terminals at Incheon, providing nearly 49,000 sq m of cargo infrastructure and annual handling capacity exceeding 460,000 tons. Atlas and Sharp are also advancing the development of Atlas Air Technical Services (AATS), a dedicated four-bay widebody maintenance facility at Incheon that is expected to become operational in 2027. The company said that the two projects would support its long-term growth and the evolving demands of the Asia Pacific air cargo market. Atlas Air Worldwide chief executive Michael Steen said: "Asia remains one of the most important regions for global trade, and our longstanding partnership with Sharp has enabled us to deliver high-quality ground handling services to our customers in Korea. "Through AACT, we've built a world-class cargo handling platform that continues to grow with the needs of our customers." The development of AATS will allow Atlas to insource approximately one-third of its heavy maintenance volume, to provide greater control over maintenance quality and turnaround times. "Together, these investments reflect our long-term commitment to the region and our focus on building the infrastructure and capabilities needed to support our customers' growth," added Steen.

'Severe supply imbalance' threat as record box ship deliveries loom

The global containership fleet is set to expand by almost 50% by 2030, with even record levels of vessel scrapping unlikely to prevent a severe supply imbalance. In its latest report, Sea-Intelligence forecast the fleet will grow from almost 34m teu today to 40m teu by Q2 28, and 50m teu by the Q3 30. The analyst expects average annual fleet growth of 10% between 2027 and 2030, based on existing orders, with further newbuilding contracts potentially increasing that figure. Quarterly deliveries are forecast to average 1m teu over the period, peaking at 1.8m teu in the third quarter of 2028. This compares with average quarterly deliveries of 560,000 teu between 2023 and 2026, highlighting the scale of capacity due to enter the market. Sea-Intelligence said the current orderbook, covering vessels scheduled for delivery through March 2031, stood at 15.7m teu, equivalent to 46.4% of the existing fleet, while Xeneta's latest assessment puts it slightly lower, at 15.47m teu - a difference of around 230,000 teu. Sea-Intelligence said the ordering surge had begun in the third quarter of 2024, with new contracts averaging 1.5m teu every quarter. So even an unprecedented demolition programme would do little to offset the incoming capacity, according to Sea-Intelligence. In 2016, carriers scrapped a record 670,000 teu, equivalent to just 3.3% of the fleet, during the industry's previous overcapacity crisis. Repeating that level of demolition every year between 2027 and 2030 would offset less than 17% of the scheduled deliveries, leaving annual fleet growth at 8.5%. Peter Sand, chief analyst at Xeneta, told The Loadstar only 600,000 teu had been demolished since 2019. Xeneta estimates that just 3.4m teu of existing capacity is at least 21.8 years old, the average demolition age recorded between 2016 and 2019. Mr Sand explained: "Containerships are built to last a life at sea, so they are mainly demolished for commercial and operational reasons rather than wear and tear." He expects demolition to increase if a large-scale return to Red Sea transits released capacity currently absorbed by longer voyages. However, the age and size of vessels available for demolition complicate the prospect of meaningful fleet renewal. Jonathan Roach, analyst at Braemar, told The Loadstar there were 1,944 vessels aged 20 years or more, with 1,903 ships on order. He said: "On paper, the numbers look remarkably similar, but this is where the comparison ends. There is a major mismatch in vessel sizes." Older vessels are concentrated in the smaller sub-panamax fleet, while newbuilding orders are weighted towards larger ships, he explained. This means demolition could remove substantial numbers of older vessels, but not compensating for an equivalent amount of incoming capacity. Jan Tiedemann, VP liner strategy at Alphaliner, told The Loadstar he expected scrapping to increase in 2027 and 2028 without offsetting the newbuilding influx. He identified several factors that could increase demand for vessel capacity, including longer trade routes, slow-steaming and rising consumption in emerging markets. He also pointed to the replacement needs of larger vessels built between 2000 and 2010, many of which will approach the end of their commercial lives in the mid-2030s.