The Corona virus pandemic has had a major impact on the transport sector. Regarding ACE Logistics services, the biggest changes have definitely taken place in air transport. Many flights have been canceled, yet the demand for cargo space has significantly increased. As a result, air transport prices have risen significantly and delivery times lengthened.
Maritime transport has not remained untouched either. After the Chinese holidays the closure of the regions caused major deviations from normal transport arrangements. A several-week shutdown in Chinese companies caused a large number of containers to wait in Chinese ports. This in turn led to a shortage of containers in Europe. Fortunately, we can already see that business in China is beginning to recover. However, the crisis situation in Europe and the States continues to affect container transport. While maritime transport prices from Asia to Europe have remained stable or in some cases even fallen, the export prices from Europe to Asia have risen significantly. According to the larger shipping lines, the situation is quietly normalizing, but depending on the directions, it will probably not fully recover in the coming months. With empty containers, there is currently no shortage of space and transport is working on schedule. Emphasis can also be placed on the undisturbed operation of the aceLCL (less than container load) service.
Rail transport (aceRail) is exceptional compared to the other modes of transportation mentioned above. The crisis that began after the Chinese holidays caused a break in freight transport, as the shippers had stopped working and did not deliver the goods, but rail transport was running smoothly. Due to the instability of air transport and the multiplied price level, we’ve recommended our customers to use the aceRail service. This has led to a rapid increase in interest in rail transport. It is a pleasure to emphasize here that aceRail transport prices have remained stable even during the crisis, and the reliability of service is high.
In the near future, we will undoubtedly see an increase in the share of maritime and rail transport, as services are already operating or recovering much faster than the air transport, where transport options and prices are unlikely to reach pre-crisis levels in the near future. Even in difficult situations, we have found solutions for our customers and are happy to advise them on all transport needs.
AceRail keywords:
- weekly departures
- partial and full container transport
- door to door service
- delivery time approx. 21-25 days
- volume to weight ratio: 1 cbm = 700 kg
AceLCL and aceFCL keywords:
- weekly departures
- partial container transport (aceLCL) and full container transport (aceFCL)
- door to door service
- delivery time approx. 40-45 days
- volume to weight ratio: 1 cbm = 1000 kg
For inquiries and additional information, please send an e-mail to airsea@ace.ee.
ACE Logistics
