Freight industry facing difficult 2012

The global transportation industry must brace itself for a difficult 2012 with many businesses sustaining losses, a senior industry figure has warned, reports IFW. James E. Thompson, chairman and CE of the Crown Worldwide Group, one of Hong Kong’s best-known logistics and transport service companies, told reporters that falling rates for US -bound containers from Asia suggest tough times for shipping companies in particular. The rate to ship a 40-foot container from Hong Kong to Los Angeles in August, for instance, was US$1 857, down 30% from a year earlier, according to figures published in the latest issue of Shippers Today magazine, a publication of the Hong Kong Shipping Council. Speaking during an interview, Thompson said: “In the shipping industry, you’ll see a lot of losses. They are in for a rough period.”