The 15th edition of Cool Logistic Global is taking place this week in the picturesque Italian city of Genoa. The Ports of Genoa are four ports under a single port authority – Vado Ligure, Savona, Pra’ and Genoa. Together, they form a major regional import and export hub
for fruit and perishable cargo, handling over 100,000 reefer
TEU and 600,000 pallets of fruit in 2022. Full-container and multipurpose terminals offer extensive dedicated facilities equipped with reefer plugs to handle reefer containers for maximum freshness, serving Italy, Southern Europe and beyond .This week the ports also host Genoa Shipping Week.
On Monday the delegates were invited on a tour of the port which took in parts of the old harbour before heading to the western commercial part of the port where attendees visited the PSA Genova Pra’ container terminal.
Genoa Stock Exchange
On Monday evening there was the traditional ice-breaker event where delegates could meet and network before the main conference day.
On Tuesday morning at the Genoa Stock Exchange building delegates were welcomed by Alan Robertson, Business Development Director at Cool Logistics Resources. Paolo Pessina, Chairman of Assagenti an association of shipping agents and brokers said how great it was to have Cool Logistics Global in combination with the Genoa Shipping Week which was a major international event.
Silvio Ferrando - Port of Genoa
Filippo Gallo, Chairman of Ente Bilaterale Nazionale, said that Italy is the logistical and shipping capital of the world and this event was a great opportunity to network. Silvio Ferrando, Marketing and International Business at the Port of Genoa said it had been a few very challenging years for the industry, but that this was an unmissable opportunity to see what the future could bring. It would be a challenge but they have good partners and are investing in the port's infrastructure and looking at more intermodal links from the port.
Martin Dixon from Drewry joined the conference by video link from London to give an outlook for the reefer shipping market. He said world reefer traffic fell by 0.7% in 2022 after a turbulent year in 2021, 2023 however is showing recovery and a continued increase is forecast. An estimated 88% of all reefer cargo went in containers in 2022 and this is expected to increase to 91% by 2027. Growth of the reefer fleet slowed to 1.7% in 2022 and is forecast to reduce further in 2023 after a peak in 2021, from 2024 growth is predicted to recover to 4.2%. He also said that by 2027 87% of the fleet will be 'smart'
Reefer container rates peaked in 3Q22, but are now correcting faster that expected but benchmark rates will remain well above pre-pandemic levels.
Michel Looten - Accenture Strategy & Consulting
Michel Looten from Accenture Strategy & Consulting said that the trends in the reefer market had seen a decline in 1st half of 2023 which may be due to a decline in the North American market, but citrus and onions have done well, on the other hand volumes of dragon fruit have declined dramatically. He said it was important to remember that while reefer trade was trending below historical growth rates it was was only 6% of the total containerized ocean trade.
Global reefer trade of onions, citrus fruit and potatoes registered the highest growth in 2023, onions +35%, citrus +26 and potatoes +10%, while dragon fruit saw the biggest drop at -44%.
Exports from India and Egypt are booming and are up by 63% and 33% respectively driven by these products. India exported 46% more onions, Egypt +54% in citrus, +48% in potatoes and a huge +175% in onions.
Nigel Pusey - Container Trade Statistics
Nigel Pusey, CEO at Container Trade Statistics said that the reefer index was still 25% above pre-pandemic rates. South and Central American trade was increasing while North American and European trade was flat. Sub- Saharan Africa - Europe trade has dropped since its peak in 2022.
Overall global reefer volumes have remained largely flat over the 2019 to 2023 period, but the volumes mask shifts in regional demand with Asian import growth expanding at the expense of North American and European. The Global reefer price index only reached 70% of the overall index at the high point of Q3 2022.
Kelly Hobson from Shape tomorrow spoke about how sustainability impacts us as individuals and as companies. To be sustainable there are transformation stages and companies have to make a conscious decision to to reduce their impact on the environment.
Andrew Lorimer - Datamar
Andrew Lorimer, CEO at Datamar said that in post-pandemic South America freight costs were sky-high mainly due to over capacity of vessels, which led to some use of conventional vessels but this has not happened this year.
353,948 Teu of fruit is exported from the South American countries- Argentina, Brazil, Chile Paraguay and Uruguay. 57% of that fruit goes to Europe.
One of the biggest new trends is the volumes of Brazilian avocados exported, which is up 266.5% to 1000 Teus from 2022, the main destination is Europe. Chilean cherries will also see record volumes this year.