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Transport businesses call for help as diesel price hits record high

Nearly six out of 10 UK transport and storage businesses are now "very concerned" as record diesel prices intensify the pressure on them, prompting calls for government support. Diesel prices hit a record average of £2.01 per litre on 2 October, up 40.5% from the 142.38p at the end of February, according to the RAC. The UK Road Haulage Association (RHA) estimates operators are paying around £350 more on fuel for each truck every week, compared with pre-Middle East confict. For a 50-vehicle fleet, that equates to almost a £1m a year extra, if the increase persists, leaving businesses with little room to absorb further costs. New Office for National Statistics (ONS) data analysed by Parcelhero reveals that 59.8% of transport and storage businesses were "very concerned" about fuel prices, revealed in a survey conducted between 21 September and 4 October. This compares with 43% in August and 38.2% across all UK businesses. And shippers are also feeling the pressure, the proportion of businesses also 'very concerned' more than doubling, from 23% in August to 48.4%, in the latest survey. David Jinks, head of consumer research at Parcelhero, warned that the effects of rising fuel costs could ripple throughout the supply chain, from factories and warehouses to consumers. "Retailers are less exposed on paper, but they are the businesses that ultimately feel hauliers' and couriers' fuel costs through delivery rates and surcharges," he said. The RHA is urging the government to introduce an 'Essential User Rebate' of at least 15p per litre for haulage, coach, and van operators for six months. MD Richard Smith explained: "It would help protect margins, ease cash flow, and reduce pressure to pass further costs to customers. Ultimately, it would support the deliveries and passenger services our economy and communities rely on." Meanwhile, a survey on business confidence found that 82% of respondents identified a fuel duty cut as a measure that would give businesses greater confidence to invest and grow. A further 61% supported an Essential User Rebate for commercial operators. Mr Smith also called for maintaining the existing fuel duty freeze and 5p cut, cancelling planned increases, and removing the automatic Retail Price Index link. For operators, the immediate challenge is managing costs without compromising the services that keep goods moving. SNAP, which connects fleets with truck parking and other transport services, warned that rising diesel prices were compounding existing pressures from maintenance, insurance, and administrative costs. Nick Long, SNAP's head of commercial for the UK and Ireland, said: "When diesel reaches £2 per litre and businesses are potentially spending hundreds of pounds more per vehicle every week, the impact on a fleet can be enormous." He added that improving route planning, reducing unnecessary administration, and gaining greater visibility over spending could help operators navigate the pressure. With haulage profit margins typically around just 2%, according to the RHA, sustained increases could force businesses to reconsider investment and pricing, with consequences extending across the wider economy.

Solar power a shining example of export progress across sub-Saharan Africa

Solar energy is becoming increasingly important for bolstering sub-Saharan Africa's trading potential, with supply chain executives telling The Loadstar that Kenya and Nigeria are two of the fastest-growing markets for the technology. By the end of the first quarter, Nigeria had climbed into the top 10 of solar panel suppliers to the US, with some 40% of the country's total exports of the technology, totalling $64bn, ending up in the US. That growth has been felt by forwarders and logistics partners. DHL Express's chief executive for Sub-Saharan Africa, Hennie Heymans, told The Loadstar the company was seeing "incredible growth" in solar-panel exports out of Nigeria - and nor is that country alone. "We actually see an incredible growth in solar panel exports towards the United States from Nigeria and Kenya," he said, pointing out that for Africa in general the "new energy" vertical was proving something of a winner, experiencing 20% growth year on year. Interestingly, local forwarders told The Loadstar solar panels were also proffering volumes in the reverse direction for Kenya, although there was debate around whether the volumes were part of a local redevelopment of energy infrastructure or the result of chaos in the supply chains. One forwarder told The Loadstar that, amid the situation in Hormuz and growing pockets of congestion at typical transhipment hubs, volumes were routing via Kenya in an effort to avoid being caught up in the chaos. Mr Heymans, however, believes the growth in solar typifies the present story across Africa, noting that DHL had experienced a recent uptick in enquiries about special economic zones (SEZs) in several African countries, particularly Kenya and South Africa. Without stating just how many SEZ-related enquiries his office had handled, Mr Heymans said: "In Kenya, we have seen interest focused specifically on Mombasa, as well as Nairobi, and we have seen new entrants in both locations." And he is not alone in noting this: businesses the world over are reassessing international supply chains amid geopolitical tension and changing trade policies, with growing indications that the continent is more than well suited as a base for production.

'Redeployment and agility' key to continued success of LNG transition, says CMA

CMA CGM's decision to be an early mover in LNG bunkering, amid the decarbonisation push, has paid dividends, according to the French carrier's VP for bunkering and energy transition, Farid Trad. At last week's Singapore International Bunkering Conference and Exhibition (SIBCON), he recalled that In 2017, CMA CGM signed the first of a few 10-year agreements under which compatriot energy major TotalEnergies supplied 300,000 tons of LNG annually to the carrier in Rotterdam. Deliveries commenced in 2020, using an LNG bunkering vessel commissioned by Mitsui OSK Lines for long-term charter to TotalEnergies. Mr Trad said: "When you look at what is happening 10 years later, you can't help but say what we have achieved is enormous. We went through the Ukraine crisis in 2022 after Covid, and now we have another geopolitical event in the Middle East. What's certain is that any future strategy will be a combination of security of supply, decarbonisation, and competitiveness. Finding the holy grail will be around those three dimensions." In July 2025, CMA CGM and TotalEnergies announced a new 50:50 joint-venture for LNG bunkering logistics in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp region, expanding their long-term cooperation and scaling supply up to 360,000 tons annually through 2040. In conjunction with SIBCON, CMA CGM announced it would work with Singapore LNG Corp, which operates the LNG terminals, and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, to develop liquefied bio-methane as a marine fuel at the world's largest bunkering port by sales volumes. By going upstream and operating its own LNG bunkering barges, Mr Trad said, the French shipping line was assured of fuel for its LNG dual-fuelled ships. CMA CGM, the third-largest shipping line with a fleet of nearly 4.5m teu, has 157 containerships of 1.6m teu on order, all to run on LNG dual-fuel. Explaining CMA CGM's choice of LNG, Mr Trad said the gas reduced health hazards due to lower sulphur oxide and nitrogen oxide emissions. Alluding to uncertainty in environmental regulations, he added: "To invest in the long run, we need some certainty on regulation, which is lacking today. Discussions are still ongoing at IMO. We are still waiting to see how it will all fit together. "When we order a ship, we order it for 25 years. So we always need to have a longer view on where we're standing and you have to go through different crises, ups and downs, [fuel] prices could be up, prices could be down." He said CMA CGM saw agility and pre-deployment as key success factors, given the repeated supply chain shocks since 2020. "The key critical point is not the potential demand, but the ability of the network of LNG bunker barges to be wherever we require them in terms of agility. "One of the key things is that redeployment and agility is one of the key factors to managing the container shipping fleet. So we need to be able to change trading patterns as quickly as possible. And for that, we need bunker barges to be available in all ports when we possibly need them. Not only in huge bunker hubs like Rotterdam, Shanghai, and Singapore, but there are other ports that are either secondary or less important."