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WSC backs calls to IMO on labelling lithium batteries 'dangerous goods'

The World Shipping Council (WSC) has backed growing calls for a revision of how goods containing lithium batteries are declared to container lines. The liner shipping lobby said today it had submitted a paper for consideration at the IMO's forthcoming sub-committee on carriage of cargo and containers meeting in London, from 14 to 18 September, which calls for a revision of the Special Provision 188 (SP188) of the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code. SP188 exempts smaller batteries from certain requirements if they meet specified testing, packaging, and capacity criteria. "However, there is no limit on how many exempt batteries can be consolidated in one container," the WSC noted. "A container carrying around 4,200 laptops could therefore contain approximately 416 kWh of stored energy, equivalent to three or four electric vehicles, without requiring 'dangerous goods' documentation or container placarding." According to the Cargo Notification Incident System (CINS), which has 14 of the largest container carriers as members, shares information on all cargo incidents, and has built up a database of lithium-ion shipboard fires - such has been the rapid increase in these that one now happens every 17 days - much of the blame for this recent escalation has been on shipments involving lithium batteries. And largely because their presence in a container was unknown to the carrier. "Right now, a container can be packed with thousands of lithium batteries and still travel without being declared as dangerous goods," said Joe Kramek, WSC president and CEO. "The SP188 exemption was intended to simplify the transport of individual devices with small batteries, not to make entire container loads invisible," he added. A recent CINS position paper also called for the revision of SP188. Bill Guo, international transportation operations manager at BAT Logistics, a Chinese operator specialising in battery shipments, told The Loadstar: "If the CINS proposal were adopted, the largest operational change would be earlier and more complete declaration at booking, plus container-level aggregation of battery mass. "That would likely add data and review work upstream, but it would also give carriers and terminals information they currently may not receive for SP188 cargo. "The exact cost, lead-time and stowage effects would depend on the final rule and each carrier's implementation, so I would not quantify them at this stage." Mr Kramek said: "The current rules are not working as intended. As battery shipments continue to grow, we need a better solution that makes this cargo visible and allows the risks to be properly managed. "We know what can happen when hazards are invisible - batteries shipped under the exemption have caused serious container fires, putting people, ports, ships, and the marine environment at risk," he added. The WSC paper, which has been submitted to the IMO in conjunction with other industry bodies such as BIMCO, the International Chamber of Shipping, International Transport Workers Federation, and five governments, including New Zealand, Singapore, and Thailand, chiefly sets out a "potential maximum container-level threshold, above which battery shipments would have to be declared and potentially placarded".

No 'crazy' air cargo peak this year - consumer demand fails to take off

Air cargo is not expected to see a traditional peak season this year, softening consumer demand removing the catalyst for a major Q4 surge, despite booming hi-tech traffic providing a strong bedrock for the market. Forwarders expect some tightening in capacity and rates around China's Golden Week [early October] and again as Black Friday and Christmas approach, but say there is little evidence of the sharp increase in volumes and prices normally associated with peak season. One European forwarder told The Loadstar there would likely be "a slight uptick" towards Week 40, ahead of Golden Week, followed by additional volumes associated with Cyber Monday, Black Friday, and Christmas. But he added: "For sure we do not expect a peak season with rates doubling or something like that. No crazy shit. Just normal, normal." The assessment is broadly reflected in Ti Insight's latest Air Freight Rate Tracker. While its survey found 68.7% of respondents expected some degree of rate increase in Q4, its own outlook is for a "measured" increase rather than a dramatic peak, with plentiful belly capacity and a lack of a traditional peak-season catalyst. "Very few people are talking about peak season," said Niall van de Wouw, chief airfreight for Xeneta, last month. "In all the conversations we've had with our shipper community, in only one was there talk of peak season charters." High-value B2B traffic, particularly semiconductors, servers, and AI-related equipment is providing underlying air cargo demand from Asia - but as structural rather than seasonal traffic, and it does not provide the consumer-driven surge traditionally seen as retailers stock up ahead of Black Friday and Christmas. China's latest figures show overall exports surged 25% year on year in August, but the growth was heavily skewed towards hi-tech products. In the first eight months, exports of mechanical and electrical products increased 21.9%, while integrated-circuit exports jumped 95.4%, according to China's General Administration of Customs. By contrast, exports of labour-intensive goods, including clothing, footwear, furniture, and toys, fell 0.6%. Indeed, toy exports were down 6.4% in January-August and footwear fell 4.7%, while clothing increased just 2.5%. Automatic data-processing equipment and parts, meanwhile, jumped 49.4%. There are signs of softness in Europe too. Eurostat reported that euro-area retail trade volumes fell 0.6% month on month in July, including a 1.4% decline in non-food products, while Germany alone recorded a sharp 3.4% fall in overall retail volumes. But hi-tech is booming: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing today reported August revenue of NT$514.81bn ($16.3bn), up 53.3% year on year, and up 10.1% on July, boosting revenue over the first eight months 39.3%. And the chipmaker has raised its 2026 capital expenditure budget to between $60bn and $64bn in response to the strong structural demand, being seen directly in the airfreight market. "AI, chips, it's in the market," the forwarder told The Loadstar, noting particularly strong demand out of Taiwan. But this demand has already been present for around a year, and remains relatively steady. "It's ongoing. It's pretty much at demand," he said, adding there could be some increase towards the end of the year as companies deployed remaining investment budgets. The forwarder added that customer forecasts were, similarly, offering little evidence of an impending surge, with some volumes stable and others perhaps 20% higher, but "nothing where I would say we have to turn things upside down". Ecommerce is also unlikely to provide the significant growth seen in previous peak seasons. The forwarder said the impact of changes to ecommerce regulations was difficult to assess, not least because some traffic could increasingly move as consolidated freight rather than identifiable individual ecommerce shipments. But the decline in some ecommerce volumes has already been accompanied by reductions in capacity, particularly at European gateways heavily exposed to the sector. "The volumes are gone, the capacity is gone," he said, pointing to Budapest and Liège in particular. Ti Insight similarly found that the global market was balancing out, with recent rate declines driven largely by improving capacity rather than a significant fall in overall demand. There are potential capacity constraints ahead. The forwarder noted that the switch from airline summer to winter schedules at the end of October would reduce belly capacity on some routes, particularly Europe-US, while allocations and block-space agreements would be reshuffled for the winter season. Rates could, therefore, still rise during Q4, particularly on tighter lanes, without the market experiencing a conventional peak. "I would wonder where a strong peak season could come from," said the forwarder.

Awery appoints Cornelia Korsch global development director

Awery Aviation Software has recruited former WebCargo by Freightos executive Cornelia Korsch as global development director for Awery and its CargoBooking platform. The appointment is an interesting move in the increasingly competitive air cargo booking technology market, Ms Korsch joining after more than three years at rival digital booking platform WebCargo. She will be responsible for bringing in additional airlines and capacity and increasing adoption of the platform by freight forwarders. Ms Korsch joined WebCargo in November 2022 as global sales manager for airline partnerships, becoming account manager in February last year. She previously spent more than seven years with AirBridgeCargo Airlines in a series of commercial positions, most recently business development manager for digital sales in Europe. Her career in air cargo spans more than 30 years and includes more than two decades with Cargolux. Ms Korsch said: "I'm looking forward to bringing my experience with airlines and technology providers to CargoBooking and working across the air cargo community to help them reach more customers and maximise the opportunities that digital distribution can offer." Awery founder and CEO Vitaly Smilianets said Ms Korsch's understanding of airline requirements from digital booking platforms would be "invaluable" as CargoBooking sought to add carriers and capacity. The appointment follows Awery's recruitment last week of Gianluca Marcangelo, formerly of Challenge Group and Champ Cargosystems, as EVP global sales, as the aviation software company strengthens its commercial team.