Porti & ambiente — le notizie raccolte

The China Container Industry Association (CCIA) expects manufacturing output to drop by as much as 30% this year, because of a rebalancing of supply and demand. Chinese manufacturers produce 95% of the world’s containers and, after record output in 2021, 2024, and 2025, downward pressure on prices is expected. Last year, China’s container output totalled 6.45m teu, the third highest after 2021 and 2024. And during China’s 14th ‘Five-Year Plan’, between 2021 and 2025, annual container output averaged 5.4m teu, a 70% increase over the 13th plan. CCIA noted that container manufacturing had weathered a full cycle of fluctuations – from a severe shortage during Covid, to capacity expansion during the Red Sea crisis, and the supply-demand rebalance today. The association suggests the container supply chain will be under pressure, and adjusted, this year, with new-container production expected to be between 4.5m and 5m teu. Last year, driven by multiple factors such as high containership deliveries, the Red Sea crises, slow returns of empty containers in Europe, and China’s export surplus, container production was pushed up. Downward pressure on container prices resulted, and Singamas, the fourth-largest container maker, said in its 2025 financials that prices fell to $1,752 per teu that year, down from $1,985 in 2024. Indeed, the CCIA noted that prices of dry containers had declined for four consecutive years, returning to pre-2020 levels. The customer composition had changed accordingly, with liner operators accounting for 55.4% of sales, up by 9.3 percentage points, while container leasing companies’ share declined accordingly. This was attributed to a higher inventory of containers held by lessors. Meanwhile, Cosco Shipping Development, parent of Shanghai Universal Logistics Equipment (also known as Dong Fang International Containers), indicted by the US Department of Justice on 19 May accused of colluding with CIMC, CXIC and Singamas to raise container prices by restricting output, has released a statement saying it had yet to be formally notified of the DoJ indictment, and its operations were proceeding normally.

If you listened to the calls of all the major actors in transport and logistics (T&L) during the earnings season that has just ended, you’d know that the Middle East crisis barely affected their financial performances during the first quarter (Q1 26). Booking platform Freightos (CRGO) is different. Mixed For one thing, it processed 425,000 transactions in Q1 26, and that implied a growth rate of only “15% year over year, but below our 20% plus target”, its management team remarked in a ...

The first generation of digital freight forwarders once appeared to be converging on a single idea: combine software with logistics execution, automate the workflows, and gradually become the operating system for global trade. Increasingly, however, the sector’s players are heading in very different directions. For the UK’s Beacon, the answer was to step away from freight forwarding altogether. CEO Fraser Robinsonrecently toldThe Loadstarthe company had concluded that “freight forwarders… have a business model problem”, arguing that operators could never become truly neutral technology platforms because customers ultimately choose forwarders based on rates and service. “A forwarder can never be neutral,” he said. “To become the operating brain… you must be neutral.” Beacon has since repositioned itself as what Mr Robinson describes as a “100%-tech platform”, focused on aggregating fragmented supply chain data into what it calls an AI-driven “context layer”. The company argues that visibility itself is no longer the product, and that the real value lies in helping customers make decisions, automate workflows and reduce costs. Zencargo, however, sees the future very differently. Rather than viewing forwarding and software as conflicting models, the company argues that operational execution is precisely what makes the technology valuable. “We don’t see this divide between… software and freight operations and execution,” said Zencargo CEO Richard Fattal. “We think they’re symbiotic.” In fact, he argues the opposite of Beacon’s position: that companies which actually move freight are better placed to build effective technology because they experience the operational problems first-hand. “You can build much better software if you actually have to do the freight forwarding,” he said. FreightSuite tends to agree. The start-up, which is trying to build an AI-native alternative to CargoWise, launched its own small freight forwarding operation partly as a live testing environment for the platform, allowing engineers and operators to work side-by-side while refining workflows and automation tools. The disagreement highlights a growing split inside the digital forwarding sector, as companies that once appeared to share a common vision increasingly diverge over what the business should ultimately become. For Zencargo, the model has evolved away from simply digitising freight bookings toward broader supply chain orchestration. Mr Fattal described the company as an “AI-powered digital freight forwarder and supply chain partner”, arguing that the real opportunity lies in becoming deeply embedded in customer workflows. That includes integrating with ERP systems, automating procurement and shipment workflows, managing exceptions and helping customers make decisions around inventory, production delays and transport capacity. “What we’ve been doing is thinking about… what is the typical workflow that a business has from the moment that they place an order with a factory,” he said. The company also pushes back on the idea that customers are unwilling to build long-term relationships with forwarders. Beacon had argued that because shippers frequently switch providers, forwarders struggle to become deeply integrated platforms. Zencargo disagrees. “If anything, one of the reasons it’s been harder for new freight forwarders to get into the market is because customers are sticky,” said Mr Fattal. The debate increasingly centres on AI, and where its value will actually emerge. Like Beacon, Zencargo argues that the future advantage lies not simply in adding AI tools, but in controlling the underlying data and operational workflows. Mr Fattal believes freight forwarding remains “very much at the beginning” of the AI transition, with the biggest gains likely to come from automating exception management rather than routine processes. “The last 20%… create a huge amount of the time sink of the work,” he said, referring to delays, customs problems, missing paperwork and operational escalations that still require human intervention. He argued that AI systems will increasingly learn from those operational exceptions over time, creating an advantage for companies that both own the workflow and manage the freight itself. Both companies, despite their different conclusions, are effectively arguing that the strategic battleground in freight forwarding is shifting away from simple shipment visibility and toward ownership of the data, workflows and decision-making layers around the supply chain. Where they disagree is whether a freight forwarder can ultimately own that layer – or whether true platforms must sit above execution altogether. The answer may define what the next generation of digital forwarding businesses eventually become.

One of the top performers in Q1 26, Expeditors’ strength, once again, boiled down to its unique product portfolio mix, where customs house brokerage (CHB) stood out. That powerfully defensive proposition – something DSV is also looking to exploit, scaling “customs AI across every market“, as discussed at its recent Capital Markets Day – carried even greater significance in the first quarter following refunds that had to be processed, new claims and various court orders, new guidelines, regulatory risk and so ...

La Gdf di Rovigo ha scoperto nel parco del Delta del Po, nel comune di Porto Viro, un'area rurale di oltre 4mila metri quadri adibita a vera e propria discarica abusiva di rifiuti, compresi i cosiddetti rifiuti speciali e pericolosi. L'area, composta da quattro terreni e da un'abitazione privata, è stata perquisita su disposizione della procura rodigina ed è emerso che la casa era "stracolma", scrive la Gdf in una nota, di materiale come bombole del gas, oli esausti, e batterie. All'esterno vi era invece "una vera e propria distesa di imbarcazioni, motori per piccoli natanti, carcasse di auto e materiale di risulta edile".L'attività di perquisizione è stata eseguita con il personale di Arpa Veneto per la caratterizzazione e classificazione del materiale rinvenuto, oltre che per la valutazione dell'inquinamento del suolo e della falda acquifera sottostante, rilevata la presenza nel sito anche di carburanti e oli lubrificanti. Sul materiale sono in corso accertamenti. I cinque proprietari dell'area sono risultati privi dei titoli autorizzativi previsti dal Testo Unico Ambientale né è stata rinvenuta alcuna documentazione attestante la tracciabilità dei rifiuti. Per questo sono stati denunciati e la presunta discarica abusiva è stata posta sotto sequestro.L'operazione dei finanzieri con gli specialisti della Reparto Operativo Aereonavale della Gdfdi Venezia, si è sviluppata a seguito del monitoraggio svolto su terra, cielo, ambiente marino e fluviale dalle pattuglie e unità "117" per prevenire e contrastare gli illeciti di natura ambientale nella zona.Presenti sul posto anche i vigili del fuoco per mettere in sicurezza l'intero sito, vista le numerose bombole di Gpl, metano e acetilene abbandonate nella discarica abusiva. Riproduzione riservata © Copyright ANSA Da non perdere Condividi