<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Romanian officials said Friday they were encouraged by reactions from United Nations Sanctions Commi</div>

Romanian officials said Friday they were encouraged by reactions from United Nations Sanctions Commi

<div>Romanian officials said Friday they were encouraged by reactions from United Nations Sanctions Committee members to their request for permission to import $300 million worth of embargoed Iraqi crude oil to overcome a severe energy shortage in the country.Romania is seeking the Iraqi oil as a partial repayment of the $1.7 billion debt owed by Iraq, said Ionel Sandulescu, deputy minister for foreign affairs, in an interview.The Sanctions Committee agreed to hold bilateral talks on their request, but it gave no indication of when the Security Council might act on the matter, said Aurel Dragos Munteanu, Romania's ambassador to the...

Romanian officials said Friday they were encouraged by reactions from United Nations Sanctions Committee members to their request for permission to import $300 million worth of embargoed Iraqi crude oil to overcome a severe energy shortage in the country. Romania is seeking the Iraqi oil as a partial repayment of the $1.7 billion debt owed by Iraq, said Ionel Sandulescu, deputy minister for foreign affairs, in an interview.The Sanctions Committee agreed to hold bilateral talks on their request, but it gave no indication of when the Security Council might act on the matter, said Aurel Dragos Munteanu, Romania's ambassador to the United Nations. "The preliminary response was very positive," he said, adding that the group appears to be committed to finding help for Romania through either approving this request or some other method. Mr. Sandulescu said he sought to convince the UN officials that the concession Romania is seeking wouldn't serve to strengthen the government of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, since "the Iraqi government won't receive a payment for this oil." Romania, which is the largest oil producer among the previous Soviet satellites, can now only meet about 30 percent of domestic needs through its production, Mr. Munteanu said. Current output of about 51 million barrels a year is about 70 percent below peak levels, he said. Romanian and oil industry officials have said that the long-standing government of Nicolae Ceausecu, which was overthrown late in 1989, pushed to maximize output but failed to maintain facilities, leading to inefficiency and abandonment of resources.

ROMANIAN REQUEST TO IMPORT IRAQI OIL ADVANCES IN UN

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The Midwest outperformed other US regions in the latest U.S. Bank Freight Index, with freight volumes up 9.5% year over year and shipper spending jumping 26.7%. </div>

The Midwest outperformed other US regions in the latest U.S. Bank Freight Index, with freight volumes up 9.5% year over year and shipper spending jumping 26.7%.

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<div class="phx-topic">Freight costs and shipper expenditures are rising across the US, but most rapidly in the Midwest. Shipper spending on freight in the US industrial heartland rose 19.6% sequentially from the fourth quarter to the first quarter and 26.7% year over year, according to the latest U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index, released Tuesday. The Midwest outperformed other US regions in both shipment volume and shipper spending, U.S. Bank data showed. Nationally, shipper spending was up 12.9% from the previous quarter and 21.8% year over year, while shipment volume fell 0.3% quarter to quarter and was down 0.6% compared with the 2025 first quarter. Tighter truckload capacity was the main reason for the jump in shipper spending, followed by <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/rising-fuel-costs-forcing-us-truck-shippers-to-shift-freight-6214133">the rapid increase in the price of diesel</a> in March, U.S. Bank said. The US average retail diesel price leapt from $3.47 at the start of the quarter to $5.40 at the end, a 55% gain. That included the global oil gains in March driven by the war in the Middle East and closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Crackdowns on <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/impact-of-non-domiciled-cdl-enforcement-splits-us-trucking-sector-6135184">non-domiciled commercial drivers</a> and stricter English-language enforcement are constraining truckload capacity after a four-year freight recession. The U.S. Bank data aligns with modest increases in manufacturing reported for the Midwest in the US Federal Reserve Board’s Beige Book <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/beigebook202604.htm">economic report released in April</a>. Data center development remains a “primary demand driver” for many industries, according to the Federal Reserve report, along with aerospace and automotive production. “Auto production provided a tailwind for Midwest freight early in the quarter,” U.S. Bank said in its report. Automotive output in January and February increased 3.3% from the fourth-quarter average and 3% from a year earlier. “ Heavy-duty truck production was also a positive for freight in the region as motor carriers replace aging fleets,” U.S. Bank said. <h3>Shipper spending outpaces volume growth </h3>FTR Transportation Intelligence on Tuesday reported preliminary North American Class 8 tractor net orders rose 199% year over year last month from a low base in April 2025. Orders declined 34% from an “elevated level” in March but were still up 110% year over year in the first four months of 2026, the transportation research firm said. However, shipper spending far outpaced shipment volume growth. In the Midwest, shipments rose 5.7% from the fourth quarter and were up 9.5% year over year, the U.S. Bank freight index showed. Truckload rate increases and higher fuel surcharges in March helped push shipper spending higher despite tepid volume gains, U.S. Bank said. The Midwest’s sequential first-quarter increase in shipper spend far outpaced other regions, with the Southwest showing the second-highest quarter-to-quarter growth rate at 11.5%, according to U.S. Bank. By contrast, the Northeast, Southeast and West all saw shipper freight spending rise by high single-digit percentages from the fourth quarter. In terms of volume, western states saw Q1 shipments climb 1.9% from the previous quarter, U.S. Bank reported, but shipments dropped everywhere else sequentially, falling 2.7%, 3% and 9.6% in the Northeast, Southeast and Southwest, respectively. But all regions saw double-digit growth year over year in the quarter. Contact William B. Cassidy at <a href="mailto:bill.cassidy@spglobal.com">bill.cassidy@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Freight costs and shipper expenditures are rising across the US, but most rapidly in the Midwest. Shipper spending on freight in the US industrial heartland rose 19.6% sequentially from the fourth quarter to the first quarter and 26.7% year over year, according to the latest U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index, released Tuesday. The Midwest outperformed other US regions in both shipment volume and shipper spending, U.S. Bank data showed. Nationally, shipper spending was up 12.9% from the previous quarter and 21.8% year over year, while shipment volume fell 0.3% quarter to quarter and was down 0.6% compared with the 2025 first quarter. Tighter truckload capacity was the main reason for the jump in shipper spending, followed by the rapid increase in the price of diesel in March, U.S. Bank said. The US average retail diesel price leapt from $3.47 at the start of the quarter to $5.40 at the end, a 55% gain. That included the global oil gains in March driven by the war in the Middle East and closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Crackdowns on non-domiciled commercial drivers and stricter English-language enforcement are constraining truckload capacity after a four-year freight recession. The U.S. Bank data aligns with modest increases in manufacturing reported for the Midwest in the US Federal Reserve Board’s Beige Book economic report released in April . Data center development remains a “primary demand driver” for many industries, according to the Federal Reserve report, along with aerospace and automotive production. “Auto production provided a tailwind for Midwest freight early in the quarter,” U.S. Bank said in its report. Automotive output in January and February increased 3.3% from the fourth-quarter average and 3% from a year earlier. “ Heavy-duty truck production was also a positive for freight in the region as motor carriers replace aging fleets,” U.S. Bank said. Shipper spending outpaces volume growth FTR Transportation Intelligence on Tuesday reported preliminary North American Class 8 tractor net orders rose 199% year over year last month from a low base in April 2025. Orders declined 34% from an “elevated level” in March but were still up 110% year over year in the first four months of 2026, the transportation research firm said. However, shipper spending far outpaced shipment volume growth. In the Midwest, shipments rose 5.7% from the fourth quarter and were up 9.5% year over year, the U.S. Bank freight index showed. Truckload rate increases and higher fuel surcharges in March helped push shipper spending higher despite tepid volume gains, U.S. Bank said. The Midwest’s sequential first-quarter increase in shipper spend far outpaced other regions, with the Southwest showing the second-highest quarter-to-quarter growth rate at 11.5%, according to U.S. Bank. By contrast, the Northeast, Southeast and West all saw shipper freight spending rise by high single-digit percentages from the fourth quarter. In terms of volume, western states saw Q1 shipments climb 1.9% from the previous quarter, U.S. Bank reported, but shipments dropped everywhere else sequentially, falling 2.7%, 3% and 9.6% in the Northeast, Southeast and Southwest, respectively. But all regions saw double-digit growth year over year in the quarter. Contact William B. Cassidy at bill.cassidy@spglobal.com .

Trucking News

Truckload

Surface

Autos, data centers boosting US Midwest freight: U.S. Bank

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The acquisition of German logistics software company Logward continues a trend of visibility vendors extending beyond data provision to areas like transportation management, booking and allocation.</div>

The acquisition of German logistics software company Logward continues a trend of visibility vendors extending beyond data provision to areas like transportation management, booking and allocation.

<div class="phx-topic">Transportation visibility software provider Shippeo has acquired logistics technology provider Logward in a move that marries data with execution tools for international logistics teams. Terms were not disclosed. The acquisition, announced Monday, pairs two Europe-based technology providers with distinct sets of shipper customer bases. It also furthers a trend where visibility providers are seeking to <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/fourkites-exit-from-gartner-visibility-assessment-highlights-evolving-market-5958243">connect transportation data across modes to actions</a> like planning, booking, and allocation with carrier and third-party logistics partners. The deal follows moves over the past year by market leaders project44 and FourKites to extend into <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/project44-wades-into-tms-market-to-fill-modal-geographic-gaps-6065764">transportation management</a> and <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/visibility-vendors-move-to-extend-reach-and-relevancy-in-rebalancing-market-5923178">control tower</a> tools, respectively. Shippeo CEO Lucien Besse said in a LinkedIn post the Logward deal connects “trusted visibility with operational solutions.” Founded in 2018 as a technology spinoff of the German forwarder Leschaco, Logward has predominantly catered to European shippers looking for software to manage international logistics internally. Though the company found that shippers often still wanted help using the software, it developed low- and no-code solutions designed to help its customers be more self-reliant. “Together with Shippeo’s trusted visibility, we can help customers identify what matters sooner, coordinate the right response more effectively, and drive stronger operational and business outcomes,” Jonas Krumland, Logward’s founder and CEO, said in a statement. Logward’s platform includes tools for managing international transportation workflows, with a specialty on managing booking and optimizing container allocations. The company more recently expanded into order management and customs tools. For Paris-based Shippeo, the acquisition allows its existing customers to migrate insights from their visibility platforms directly into decision-making on planning, routing and carrier relationship management. Shippeo, founded in 2014, tracks more than 100 million shipments annually across all transport modes and is integrated with more than 228,000 carriers and 1,100 transportation management, telematics and electronic logging device systems. Its customers include AkzoNobel, Carrefour, Decathlon, Renault Group, Moët Hennessy, and Yamaha. The deal will see Logward’s 80 employees in Hamburg and Bangalore, including Krumland and chief technology and product officer Hari Krishna, join Shippeo, which will now have 300 employees. Contact Eric Johnson at <a href="mailto:eric.johnson@spglobal.com">eric.johnson@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Transportation visibility software provider Shippeo has acquired logistics technology provider Logward in a move that marries data with execution tools for international logistics teams. Terms were not disclosed. The acquisition, announced Monday, pairs two Europe-based technology providers with distinct sets of shipper customer bases. It also furthers a trend where visibility providers are seeking to connect transportation data across modes to actions like planning, booking, and allocation with carrier and third-party logistics partners. The deal follows moves over the past year by market leaders project44 and FourKites to extend into transportation management and control tower tools, respectively. Shippeo CEO Lucien Besse said in a LinkedIn post the Logward deal connects “trusted visibility with operational solutions.” Founded in 2018 as a technology spinoff of the German forwarder Leschaco, Logward has predominantly catered to European shippers looking for software to manage international logistics internally. Though the company found that shippers often still wanted help using the software, it developed low- and no-code solutions designed to help its customers be more self-reliant. “Together with Shippeo’s trusted visibility, we can help customers identify what matters sooner, coordinate the right response more effectively, and drive stronger operational and business outcomes,” Jonas Krumland, Logward’s founder and CEO, said in a statement. Logward’s platform includes tools for managing international transportation workflows, with a specialty on managing booking and optimizing container allocations. The company more recently expanded into order management and customs tools. For Paris-based Shippeo, the acquisition allows its existing customers to migrate insights from their visibility platforms directly into decision-making on planning, routing and carrier relationship management. Shippeo, founded in 2014, tracks more than 100 million shipments annually across all transport modes and is integrated with more than 228,000 carriers and 1,100 transportation management, telematics and electronic logging device systems. Its customers include AkzoNobel, Carrefour, Decathlon, Renault Group, Moët Hennessy, and Yamaha. The deal will see Logward’s 80 employees in Hamburg and Bangalore, including Krumland and chief technology and product officer Hari Krishna, join Shippeo, which will now have 300 employees. Contact Eric Johnson at eric.johnson@spglobal.com .

Logistics Technology News

Supply chain

Shippeo acquires software provider to link data to decision-making

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Cosco’s transaction is a charter deal with New York-listed, Greece-based Costamare Inc. for 16 container ships — a dozen 9,300-TEU vessels and four 3,100-TEU ships. </div>

Cosco’s transaction is a charter deal with New York-listed, Greece-based Costamare Inc. for 16 container ships — a dozen 9,300-TEU vessels and four 3,100-TEU ships.

<div class="phx-topic">Chinese container ship operators Cosco Shipping and China United Lines (CU Lines) are expanding their fleets with separate deals for 20 new vessels to be delivered between 2027 and 2030. Cosco’s transaction is a charter deal with New York-listed, Greece-based Costamare Inc. for 16 container ships — a dozen 9,300-TEU vessels and four 3,100-TEU ships. The deal adds to the 30 ships worth almost $5 billion <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/cosco-inks-almost-27-billion-in-deals-for-18-newbuild-container-ships-6152035">that Cosco</a> and its <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/oocl-orders-its-first-lng-fueled-ships-with-2-billion-deal-for-12-vessels-6212244">Hong Kong subsidiary OOCL</a> have ordered since the beginning of this year. The 9,200-TEU ships will be delivered to Cosco between the third quarter of 2028 and the second quarter of 2030 when they will be deployed on 15-year charters. They will likely sail on Asia–US West Coast or Asia–Latin America services based on the current deployment of similarly sized vessels. Cosco has made the Latin America trade one of its key growth sectors. Construction of the ships falls under a $1.3 billion order Costamare placed with Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co. (DSIC), part of state-owned shipyard giant China CSSC Holdings. The smaller ships will be chartered to Cosco for eight years upon delivery between the fourth quarter of 2027 and fourth quarter of 2028. They will likely operate on intra-Asia trades including longer-haul routes to India. No details were provided about the shipyard contracted to build the smaller ships. Neither Costamare nor Cosco said whether the ships will be dual-fuel or conventionally powered, although Cosco and OOCL have favored dual-fuel LNG vessels in their deals this year. Separately, Shanghai-headquartered carrier CU Lines said it has ordered four 6,400-TEU container ships from China’s CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding at a total cost of $300 million. Two of the conventionally fueled ships will be delivered in 2029 and two in 2030. No details of their likely deployment have been released, although given that the ships will have 1,150-TEU reefer plugs, they would be suited to the perishables trade on the carrier’s Asia–India and Middle East services. Contact Keith Wallis at <a href="mailto:keithwallis@hotmail.com">keithwallis@hotmail.com</a>. </div>

Chinese container ship operators Cosco Shipping and China United Lines (CU Lines) are expanding their fleets with separate deals for 20 new vessels to be delivered between 2027 and 2030. Cosco’s transaction is a charter deal with New York-listed, Greece-based Costamare Inc. for 16 container ships — a dozen 9,300-TEU vessels and four 3,100-TEU ships. The deal adds to the 30 ships worth almost $5 billion that Cosco and its Hong Kong subsidiary OOCL have ordered since the beginning of this year. The 9,200-TEU ships will be delivered to Cosco between the third quarter of 2028 and the second quarter of 2030 when they will be deployed on 15-year charters. They will likely sail on Asia–US West Coast or Asia–Latin America services based on the current deployment of similarly sized vessels. Cosco has made the Latin America trade one of its key growth sectors. Construction of the ships falls under a $1.3 billion order Costamare placed with Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co. (DSIC), part of state-owned shipyard giant China CSSC Holdings. The smaller ships will be chartered to Cosco for eight years upon delivery between the fourth quarter of 2027 and fourth quarter of 2028. They will likely operate on intra-Asia trades including longer-haul routes to India. No details were provided about the shipyard contracted to build the smaller ships. Neither Costamare nor Cosco said whether the ships will be dual-fuel or conventionally powered, although Cosco and OOCL have favored dual-fuel LNG vessels in their deals this year. Separately, Shanghai-headquartered carrier CU Lines said it has ordered four 6,400-TEU container ships from China’s CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding at a total cost of $300 million. Two of the conventionally fueled ships will be delivered in 2029 and two in 2030. No details of their likely deployment have been released, although given that the ships will have 1,150-TEU reefer plugs, they would be suited to the perishables trade on the carrier’s Asia–India and Middle East services. Contact Keith Wallis at keithwallis@hotmail.com .

Container lines

Container Shipping News

Maritime

Cosco Shipping, CU Lines expand fleets with 20 new container ships

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Global cargo capacity has largely recovered to pre-shock levels, while international routes have yet to be seriously affected by jet fuel shortages, according to Xeneta.</div>

Global cargo capacity has largely recovered to pre-shock levels, while international routes have yet to be seriously affected by jet fuel shortages, according to Xeneta.

<div class="phx-topic">Air cargo markets are adjusting to the disruption caused by the war in the Middle East as capacity returns and supply-demand fundamentals are driven by seasonality and early May holidays rather than conflict-related factors, analysts say. Flower exports from countries such as Colombia and Ecuador shipped to the US and Canada ahead of Mother’s Day on May 10 saw tonnage from Central and South America rising 19% in the last week of April compared to the previous week, according to the latest weekly figures from air freight analyst WorldACD Market Data. Asia-Pacific tonnage in the last week of April rose 3% sequentially, boosted by shipments ahead of May 1 Labor Day holidays in China that extend across several days. “The worst may be behind us,” Niall van de Wouw, chief air freight officer at rate benchmarking platform Xeneta, said of the war-related disruption as rate increases showed signs of easing, even on corridors most impacted by the Middle East conflict. “This is all logical because the spike in air freight rates was driven by a supply issue from the start,” van de Wouw said in an April market update this week. “Now capacity is coming back, (and) rates will come down, but not as quickly as they went up. “The big question is what will be left in terms of demand after all the inflationary pressure, all the uncertainty, and all the tremendous increases in fuel and production costs ease?,” he added. “What will it mean for Q3 and Q4 because everything that has happened in the last few weeks was against a backdrop of a not-too-rosy outlook for 2026?” For now, the Middle East war continues to drive pricing. Global air cargo spot rates surged 30% year over year in April to $3.34 per kilogram, the highest level since October 2022, according to Xeneta. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="1f8878b6-9e77-46fc-bdf5-c1982da8007e"></dynamic-object></div>Data from the last week of April by WorldACD showed significant year over year rate increases on several trade lanes. Routes out of the Middle East and South Asia saw average rates up 65% compared to the same week last year at $4.65 per kilogram. Rates out of North America rose 60% to $2.65/kg, and jumped 41% out of Asia-Pacific at $5.11/kg. Meanwhile, rates were up 40% out of Africa at $2.86/kg and up 32% out of Europe at $2.87/kg. Freightos pegged China to Europe rates at $5.30/kg as of May 3, up 4.5% on the week and 52% higher year over year. While WorldACD also noted that rates were rising at a slower pace than in the initial weeks after the Feb. 28 start of the war in the Middle East, “the closure again of the Strait of Hormuz, further increases in fuel prices, and no end in sight to the confrontation mean we may expect continuing high air cargo spot rates and further increases in the coming weeks linked to the costs and availability of jet fuel.” <h3>Carriers can’t absorb fuel cost burden </h3>Jet fuel prices surged through March and April, hitting their highest point in 23 years, with reduced petroleum shipments through the Strait of Hormuz and refinery constraints tightening global aviation fuel availability, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). “All eyes are on fuel supply and price, which are expected to test the industry’s resilience in the coming months,” Willie Walsh, IATA’s director-general, said in the association’s April market update. Van de Wouw said the margins between crude oil and refined jet fuel have now exceeded the peaks recorded during the pandemic, adding a cost burden that carriers cannot easily absorb or ignore. Still, the stabilizing of air freight markets as capacity returns will be welcomed by shippers that have been postponing Q3 and Q4 tenders with freight forwarders while waiting for the market to normalize, van de Wouw said. “Global cargo capacity has largely recovered to pre-shock levels, and the jet fuel shortage, though reportedly spreading, has yet to grip long-haul intercontinental routes at scale,” he said. “If those conditions hold, spot rates should ease in the weeks ahead and deliver some reprieve for shippers who have grown accustomed to unwelcome surprises.” Also cautiously optimistic was IATA’s Walsh. “The underlying demand trends, at this point, appear strong, and the recent World Trade Organization and International Monetary Fund revisions to trade and GDP projections continue to see growth in 2026,” he said. “Importantly, air cargo networks are providing the flexibility needed to support global supply chains as they adjust to geopolitical, tariff and operational strains,” Walsh added. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Air cargo markets are adjusting to the disruption caused by the war in the Middle East as capacity returns and supply-demand fundamentals are driven by seasonality and early May holidays rather than conflict-related factors, analysts say. Flower exports from countries such as Colombia and Ecuador shipped to the US and Canada ahead of Mother’s Day on May 10 saw tonnage from Central and South America rising 19% in the last week of April compared to the previous week, according to the latest weekly figures from air freight analyst WorldACD Market Data. Asia-Pacific tonnage in the last week of April rose 3% sequentially, boosted by shipments ahead of May 1 Labor Day holidays in China that extend across several days. “The worst may be behind us,” Niall van de Wouw, chief air freight officer at rate benchmarking platform Xeneta, said of the war-related disruption as rate increases showed signs of easing, even on corridors most impacted by the Middle East conflict. “This is all logical because the spike in air freight rates was driven by a supply issue from the start,” van de Wouw said in an April market update this week. “Now capacity is coming back, (and) rates will come down, but not as quickly as they went up. “The big question is what will be left in terms of demand after all the inflationary pressure, all the uncertainty, and all the tremendous increases in fuel and production costs ease?,” he added. “What will it mean for Q3 and Q4 because everything that has happened in the last few weeks was against a backdrop of a not-too-rosy outlook for 2026?” For now, the Middle East war continues to drive pricing. Global air cargo spot rates surged 30% year over year in April to $3.34 per kilogram, the highest level since October 2022, according to Xeneta. Data from the last week of April by WorldACD showed significant year over year rate increases on several trade lanes. Routes out of the Middle East and South Asia saw average rates up 65% compared to the same week last year at $4.65 per kilogram. Rates out of North America rose 60% to $2.65/kg, and jumped 41% out of Asia-Pacific at $5.11/kg. Meanwhile, rates were up 40% out of Africa at $2.86/kg and up 32% out of Europe at $2.87/kg. Freightos pegged China to Europe rates at $5.30/kg as of May 3, up 4.5% on the week and 52% higher year over year. While WorldACD also noted that rates were rising at a slower pace than in the initial weeks after the Feb. 28 start of the war in the Middle East, “the closure again of the Strait of Hormuz, further increases in fuel prices, and no end in sight to the confrontation mean we may expect continuing high air cargo spot rates and further increases in the coming weeks linked to the costs and availability of jet fuel.” Carriers can’t absorb fuel cost burden Jet fuel prices surged through March and April, hitting their highest point in 23 years, with reduced petroleum shipments through the Strait of Hormuz and refinery constraints tightening global aviation fuel availability, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). “All eyes are on fuel supply and price, which are expected to test the industry’s resilience in the coming months,” Willie Walsh, IATA’s director-general, said in the association’s April market update. Van de Wouw said the margins between crude oil and refined jet fuel have now exceeded the peaks recorded during the pandemic, adding a cost burden that carriers cannot easily absorb or ignore. Still, the stabilizing of air freight markets as capacity returns will be welcomed by shippers that have been postponing Q3 and Q4 tenders with freight forwarders while waiting for the market to normalize, van de Wouw said. “Global cargo capacity has largely recovered to pre-shock levels, and the jet fuel shortage, though reportedly spreading, has yet to grip long-haul intercontinental routes at scale,” he said. “If those conditions hold, spot rates should ease in the weeks ahead and deliver some reprieve for shippers who have grown accustomed to unwelcome surprises.” Also cautiously optimistic was IATA’s Walsh. “The underlying demand trends, at this point, appear strong, and the recent World Trade Organization and International Monetary Fund revisions to trade and GDP projections continue to see growth in 2026,” he said. “Importantly, air cargo networks are providing the flexibility needed to support global supply chains as they adjust to geopolitical, tariff and operational strains,” Walsh added. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

Air Cargo Carriers News

Air Cargo

Air freight supply-demand factors adjust to war-disrupted market

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The Georgia Ports Authority will fund and initiate its own study for dredging and widening its ship channel and harbor as the US Army Corps of Engineers may lack the funds in 2027. </div>

The Georgia Ports Authority will fund and initiate its own study for dredging and widening its ship channel and harbor as the US Army Corps of Engineers may lack the funds in 2027.

<div class="phx-topic">The Port of Savannah wants to prepare for handling ultra-large container ships by funding its own study on deepening and widening its harbor, sidestepping regular federal funding in hopes of speedier approval for the project. The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) said in a statement it submitted a letter of intent to the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to formally begin a study on deepening and widening Savannah Harbor, which is currently at a federally authorized depth of 49 feet along its ship channel while its inner harbor is at a 47-foot depth. The inner harbor and channel span widths between 500 feet and 600 feet. The GPA is doing the study under a section of the 1986 Water Resources Development Act that allows non-federal agencies to fully fund their own studies without the USACE, which typically pays half of the funding of any study. The Savannah study still has to be reviewed by the USACE before the project receives approval. There was no timeline given for when the study would be completed; the USACE has 180 days for review once the study has been received. The GPA said it was undertaking the study “as a way to accelerate dredging timelines and save taxpayer funds.” The study will determine the appropriate depth for the Savannah Harbor and the entrance to its river “to better serve the largest ships currently serving Savannah, and to prepare for even larger, more efficient vessels expected to serve the US East Coast in the future,” the GPA said, adding that it’s also considering passing lanes for two-way ship traffic. <h3>Problems will be ‘exacerbated’ without harbor deepening </h3>The Savannah Harbor study is authorized under USACE’s 2026 investigations, with a total estimated cost of $3 million. The 2026 USACE budget has set aside $500,000 for its share of the project this year. But due to the Trump administration’s cuts to the agency’s budget, the USACE only expects to receive $80,000 for the study in 2027. The USACE said in its 2026 investigations workplan that the deepening was needed because the last deepening completed in March 2022 was designed for 8,200-TEU vessels calling Savannah, “whereas vessels of 14,000 to 16,000 TEU regularly call on the port, and even larger vessels, 20,000 TEU or more, exist in the global fleet and could call in the future.” “Light loading and tidal delays are expected to increase as throughput increases,” the USACE said. “Existing vessels experience problems associated with turning capabilities and overall maneuverability in certain reaches of the inner harbor, which will be exacerbated as vessel size continues to increase.” While 2026 and 2027 could be flat-to-down years for Savannah’s volumes, the GPA released a forecast at the Georgia International Trade Conference last week indicating it expects cargo volumes to reach 8.8 million TEUs in 2036, marking approximately 4% average annual growth from 2025. Savannah is preparing for the growth with new terminal infrastructure, including expanding container handling at <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/gpa-names-next-ceo-as-savannah-readies-for-new-growth-phase-6167449">its under-utilized Ocean Terminal</a> as well as building an entirely new facility, <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/more-carrier-controlled-terminal-operations-could-be-coming-to-the-east-coast-6207482">the Savannah Container Terminal</a>. Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto:michael.angell@spglobal.com">michael.angell@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

The Port of Savannah wants to prepare for handling ultra-large container ships by funding its own study on deepening and widening its harbor, sidestepping regular federal funding in hopes of speedier approval for the project. The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) said in a statement it submitted a letter of intent to the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to formally begin a study on deepening and widening Savannah Harbor, which is currently at a federally authorized depth of 49 feet along its ship channel while its inner harbor is at a 47-foot depth. The inner harbor and channel span widths between 500 feet and 600 feet. The GPA is doing the study under a section of the 1986 Water Resources Development Act that allows non-federal agencies to fully fund their own studies without the USACE, which typically pays half of the funding of any study. The Savannah study still has to be reviewed by the USACE before the project receives approval. There was no timeline given for when the study would be completed; the USACE has 180 days for review once the study has been received. The GPA said it was undertaking the study “as a way to accelerate dredging timelines and save taxpayer funds.” The study will determine the appropriate depth for the Savannah Harbor and the entrance to its river “to better serve the largest ships currently serving Savannah, and to prepare for even larger, more efficient vessels expected to serve the US East Coast in the future,” the GPA said, adding that it’s also considering passing lanes for two-way ship traffic. Problems will be ‘exacerbated’ without harbor deepening The Savannah Harbor study is authorized under USACE’s 2026 investigations, with a total estimated cost of $3 million. The 2026 USACE budget has set aside $500,000 for its share of the project this year. But due to the Trump administration’s cuts to the agency’s budget, the USACE only expects to receive $80,000 for the study in 2027. The USACE said in its 2026 investigations workplan that the deepening was needed because the last deepening completed in March 2022 was designed for 8,200-TEU vessels calling Savannah, “whereas vessels of 14,000 to 16,000 TEU regularly call on the port, and even larger vessels, 20,000 TEU or more, exist in the global fleet and could call in the future.” “Light loading and tidal delays are expected to increase as throughput increases,” the USACE said. “Existing vessels experience problems associated with turning capabilities and overall maneuverability in certain reaches of the inner harbor, which will be exacerbated as vessel size continues to increase.” While 2026 and 2027 could be flat-to-down years for Savannah’s volumes, the GPA released a forecast at the Georgia International Trade Conference last week indicating it expects cargo volumes to reach 8.8 million TEUs in 2036, marking approximately 4% average annual growth from 2025. Savannah is preparing for the growth with new terminal infrastructure, including expanding container handling at its under-utilized Ocean Terminal as well as building an entirely new facility, the Savannah Container Terminal . Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com .

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