Snowstorm in central and eastern China impacts transportation industry:

• Port Authority of Shanghai closed all terminals at 1:00 at on February 2nd.
• Truckers refuse to deliver/ pick up containers due to the terrible snow and congestion, reporting that it takes two days for a normal 3 hour trip.
• Highways are closed most of the time, and when open speed is limited to 20-30km/hr.
• Lack of power forced many factories to shut down.
• More than 5.8 million passengers were stranded throughout the railway system and more than 8,000 cargo trains were affected.

Chaos at Southampton – Cargo News - UK forwarders and shippers are bracing themselves for weeks of delays in the aftermath of the collapse of a gantry crane at Southampton Container Terminal (SCT). Some vessels have been diverted from SCT following the incident on 18 January, when the boom of a super post-panamax crane fell onto the Hapag-Lloyd-owned 8,500 TEU Kyoto Express.

There is a strike going on Greece, so some ocean carriers have temporarily stopped taking new bookings until it resolved.

Customs extends comment period for 10+2 proposal – JOC - Customs and Border Protection has extended the comment period for the proposed 10+2 importer security filing rule to March 18. A link to the full text of the announcement can be found in the Federal Register Watch.

Airfreight demand slows – JOC - Based on expected high oil prices and the uncertainty of other economic factors, IATA predicts growth in airfreight demand to slow in the first half of 2008 before picking up, with overall growth of 4 percent to 4.5 percent for the full year.

Trans-Asia rail test train arrives five days early – American Shipper - The train from Hamburg to Beijing is being proposed as an twice as fast alternative to the traditional ocean shipping route from the Far East to Northern Europe. The success of the pilot test seems to be tempered only by worries of European rail officials that cross-border customs interactions may not be so smooth when the route is in full swing. Nevertheless, the successful test should make shippers happy that a viable alternative to ocean freight between Asia and Europe may soon exist.

Panama Canal hikes fees for ancillary services – American Shipper - The Panama Canal Authority announced revised fees for tug, locomotive and line-handling services due to rising operating costs brought about by fuel hikes. Rates for tug services will increase 8 percent while rates for line-handling services will rise 7 percent, effective March 1.

Our summary articles are compiled from a number of public sources that, to the best of Phoenix’s knowledge, are true and correct. In the event any information provided is erroneous, Phoenix International Freight Services, Ltd. accepts no liability or responsibility.