Air Canada Cargo appoints Americas senior director of sales

Air Canada Cargo has appointed Nicolas Saignat as senior director of cargo sales for its Americas region. Saignat will be based at the cargo company's Montréal headquarters and will lead commercial activities across the region, with a focus on "deepening customer relationships, supporting freight forwarders and shippers, and advancing Air Canada Cargo's growth across key markets in the Americas". According to his LinkedIn profile, Saignat has more than 20 years of experience in the air cargo market, having worked for Air France KLM Martinair Cargo, WestJet Cargo and CEVA Logistics. Most recently, he was vice president, airfreight product manager, North America at CEVA. Air Canada Cargo said that throughout his career, Saigant has led regional commercial teams, supported airfreight product development, strengthened strategic partnerships, and delivered growth in complex and highly competitive markets. "His experience will support Air Canada Cargo's continued focus on providing customers with market expertise and with reliable and responsive service across the region," the airline said. Matthieu Casey, managing director, commercial, Air Canada Cargo, added: "Nicolas's strong commercial background and deep understanding of the air cargo market will be important as we continue to strengthen our customer relationships and grow across the Americas. "His leadership will help us stay close to our customers' evolving needs and deliver the cargo solutions they rely on."

Typhoon-related port congestion keeps intra-Asia rates high and capacity tight

Intra-Asia freight rates rose for the fifth straight week as typhoon-related congestion in China and bottlenecks in transhipment ports Busan, Hong Kong, and Singapore tied up vessel supply. On 3 September, the Drewry Intra-Asia Container Index (IACI) climbed 9% from 27 August, to $1,312 per 40ft, as typhoon-related port disruption tightened available capacity across key Asian trades. Drewry said: "Spot freight rates from China to South-east Asia and South Asia strengthened further this week as Typhoon Saudel disrupted port operations. Shanghai and Ningbo were closed from 26-28 August, adding to congestion that has built following a series of recent typhoons, including Bavi, Noul, Dolphin, and Narra." The operational impact was reflected in vessel waiting times. In Week 35, average waiting times hit 98 hours in Shanghai and 54 hours in Ningbo. Rates on several major intra-Asia routes rose sharply. Shanghai-Busan increased 30%, to $925 per 40ft, while Shanghai-Laem Chabang climbed 28%, to $1,310 per 40ft. Ongoing geopolitical tension in the Middle East also provided upward support, with Shanghai-Jebel Ali rates increasing 6% to $8,254 per 40ft. These trends were mirrored in the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index on 4 September, with the Shanghai-South-east Asia rate up 12% from 28 August, to $893 per teu, and the Shanghai-Busan rate gaining 7%, to $248 per teu. Disrupted berthing schedules in China cascaded to the major transhipment hubs, including Busan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, causing more delays to shippers. With weather-related interruptions and port congestion persisting, Drewry expects freight rates to rise further in the coming weeks. There were also network changes among regional carriers. Japanese operator Kambara Kisen will revise its NK1 service from 22 September, replacing Otaru with Sapporo, on a revised three-week rotation with three 1,091 teu vessels calling at Dalian, Qingdao, Shanghai, Toyama, Niigata, Sapporo, Kanazawa, and Dalian. Rising bunker prices will also add upward pressure to intra-Asia freight rates. The Baltic Exchange yesterday showed very-low sulphur fuel oil prices went up around $30 from last month, to around $850 per tonne, while prices of high-sulphur fuel oil were up around $50, to roughly $660 per tonne, in Singapore and Zhoushan ports.

CH Robinson warns of Asia cargo capacity shortages

CH Robinson has warned its customers to expect capacity shortages on certain lanes out of Asia in the second half of September. The forwarder said that quarter-end shipments, technology-related cargo, and a pre-holiday export push could "narrow departure options during the second half of the month", particularly on the transpacific and Asia-Europe trade lanes. There will also be an export push ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival at the end of the month and China's National Day holiday from 1-7 October. The company added that the ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to affect airspace availability and routing decisions. "Expect booking pressure to build during the middle of September and intensify ahead of the holiday period," CH Robinson said. "On affected Asia origins, the first indication of tightening may be earlier cutoffs and fewer workable flight options rather than an immediate market-wide rate increase." However, the company added that the tightening of capacity in September does not reflect a broad-based increase in general cargo demand, other than AI infrastructure. The biggest impact will be on services out of China, CH Robinson said, with market conditions outside of China depending on how airlines adjust freighter rotations or commercial allocations toward major China gateways. "Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and Thailand should therefore be treated as origin-specific watchpoints," the forwarder said. "Each may see quarter-end or technology-related demand, but the timing and degree will vary. Belly capacity, airline allocations, local cargo mix, and gateway performance will determine which origins tighten first." General cargo will be the first affected by a tightening of capacity, with later flights or less direct services a likely outcome. Rates are also likely to rise: "On affected Asia export lanes, spot rates could begin to firm from mid-September as preferred flights fill," the forwarder added. "The change is unlikely to be uniform. Rates may rise first on the most sought-after flights rather than across every departure on the route."