I N D U ST RY NEW S Dale Collins (centre) receives top member worldwide award from OMNI President Walter Laffitte and Vice President Philippa Robinson OMNI PRESENTS TONNAGE AWARDS OMNI (Overseas Moving Network International) presented its annual tonnage awards at a ceremony in Cannes immediately ahead of the FIDI Conference. The awards celebrate the exchange of tonnage through the OMNI network and honour those companies that contributed the most, and those that have increased their contributions significantly, during the previous 12 months trading. Regional tonnage award winners were: Metropolitan Transports, Brazil; Stuttaford Van Lines, South Africa; Graebel Movers International, USA; Asian Tigers, Singapore; Grospiron International, France; and New Zealand Van Lines. Graebel also won the award for top member worldwide. Gold awards in the improvers categories went to: SIT, Spain; New Zealand Van Lines; and Graebel Movers International. Silver awards went to: Sobolak International, Austria; Brytor International, Canada; And Metropolitan Transports, Brazil. Bronze awards were collected by: Security International Moving, Peru; Global International Relocation, Portugal; and Aires, USA. BMW EXTENDS HHG HARMONY DEAL BMW has added a further two years to its household goods removals contract with Harmony Relocation Network. The contract, originally awarded in June 2019, will run for a further two years until 2024. According to Harmony, this tech-driven move management contract provides a fully digital moving experience for the transferee. Steve Lewis, Global Account Director, said: This contract is the new standard we see move management contracts being awarded to. Our customers at both transferee level and corporate level have been asking for this type of model for some years. 14 FF306 June-August 22 pp10-16 News.indd 14 Containers expected to swamp market as China curbs lift Thousands of delayed containers are expected to flood the market during the (northern hemisphere) summer, as lockdown measures around Shanghai are eased. According to a report in The Loadster, approximately 260,000 teu (twenty-foot equivalent unit), of unshipped container cargo will return to the market once restrictions are lifted, adding further stress and capacity reduction to the already congested global shipping industry. The report cites new analysis from Drewry, a maritime research and consulting business, which says the equivalent of up to 26 fully loaded 10,000 teu containerships of cargo went unshipped during April, and which will need to be transported in the months ahead. Drewry said: The greatest uncertainty is when Chinas lockdown restrictions will end, and the bullwhip impact this will have across the supply chain. Liner shipping schedules will also take at least one rotation to normalise. This would mean that, even if lockdowns were to end today, the predictability and capacity of the container distribution system would be jeopardised during summer peak season. In a recent survey by Container xChange, more than half of forwarders, traders and shippers said they expected this years peak summer season to be even more chaotic than in 2021. Asia-US capacity on the rise Meanwhile, according to another study, there is now more capacity in the Asia-US container shipping industry than before the pandemic. Data by shipping analyst Alphaliner stated in a Freightwaves report shows space on trans-Pacific routes grew by 24 per cent between April 2021 and April 2022. This represents 702 container ships with total capacity of 5.75 million twenty-foot equivalent units. There was similar growth of 24.7 per cent during the previous 12 months. The publication said the increase has been prompted by COVID-driven demand, which has dramatically altered the trans-Pacific shipping landscape, with new shipping services focusing on the Asia-East Coast lane (up by 28.1 per cent to April 2022) rather than Asia-West Coast lane (up 20.5 per cent). It added that growth in the number of operators means competition between carriers has intensified, with the main three carriers decreasing market share. Brytor International acquires Formula and Granero Moving IMS Moving Network, through Canadian international moving services provider Brytor International Moving LLC (IMS-Brytor), has purchased moving companies Formula Global Mobility LLC (affiliated to FIDI) and Granero Moving LLC based in Florida. IMS-Brytor, which has eight offices in Canada, said that the deal will significantly expand its presence in North America and offer customers a wider range of international and cross-border moving and storage services. Jacques Monier, CEO of IMS-Brytor, said: Expanding our footprint and delivering a quality experience to our customers and trade partners are important to our growth strategy. Robson Granero, of Formula Global Mobility and Granero Moving, added: Formula Global Mobility and Granero Moving clients will now have access to a wider support system and even stronger service delivery. Formula Global Mobility and Granero Moving will continue to use their current names. Robson Granero will become Branch Manager of the Floridabased businesses, while continuing to work with his current teams. WWW. F I D I FOC U S . OR G 13/06/2022 12:03 AMR