UP FRONT 01
EDITOR’S LETTER
It’s an ill wind that blows no one any good. While much of the
It is as yet hard to see how all this is going to pan out in the
world is in lockdown during the Coronavirus crisis, which is
end, although there are some lights at the end of the tunnel.
taking such a heavy toll both on human life and on corporate life,
China is already back up and running, although there is always
there are some industrial sectors that are doing extremely well.
the threat of the virus reappearing. And it looks certain that
We have over the past few weeks witnessed logistics operators
it will be some months before the impact of the crisis on
doing what they do best: responding to rapid changes in demand
commercial activity in Europe and North America returns
patterns with new flows and urgent deliveries. That has been
to anything like ‘normal’ levels.
especially true in the healthcare sector and in domestic deliveries of groceries and other necessities. In the bulk liquids sector, operators have faced unprecedented
What is more problematic at this point is international containerised traffic, with ports around the world instituting restrictions on vessel calls and on shoreside working. That
business conditions. That has certainly been very good news
has highlighted just how global some supply chains are
for tanker operators, particularly in the larger sectors – a glut
these days although, with consumer demand for non-food
of crude oil, as a result of the collapse in end-user demand for
items having almost disappeared, many supply chains do
transport fuels in particular, has offered sky-rocketing freight
not currently place much demand on the liner trades.
rates as well as good business for older vessels for use as floating storage. All along the supply chains, producers that have been unwilling to
Will those supply chains return? In a post-Coronavirus world, will consumers behave just like they did before, or will the stresses of the current crisis make them think about their
curtail output, either because of cost or – especially upstream – the
behaviour and change their buying patterns? Will we ever go
sheer practical difficulties of doing so, have been casting around to
back to thinking nothing of hopping on a plane to fly across the
look for places to hold these excess volumes. In the US, rail tank
ocean, or even for a weekend break in some picturesque city?
cars are being repurposed for storage purposes, and storage terminals around the world are filling up with superfluous inventory.
And possibly worse: what happens when we all get back to the office once the lockdown is over, and find that our
Perhaps more surprisingly, the tank container sector has also
corporate memory has potentially been impacted by furloughs
been enjoying something of a boom, with operators, depots and
and redundancies? Will the dangerous goods supply chain be
haulage companies all reported to be very, very busy. HCB hears
able to manage that loss of expertise? Keeping up to date with
that customers are not focusing on price during the current crisis;
developments will be even more crucial and HCB is keeping
rather, they are looking for service, and that is something
its fingers crossed that we will be there to help. Meanwhile,
that tank containers can provide, with their built-in flexibility
stay safe.
and dependability.
Peter Mackay
WWW.HCBLIVE.COM
