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Flexport lets AI agents book freight - who signed the contract?

In a nutshell: Flexport's new MCP server lets shippers' own AI agents book freight at negotiated rates without anyone logging in. US contract law, and Flexport's freshly revised platform terms, put the bill for a wrong booking on whoever plugged the agent in. Last week, Flexport launched a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that lets AI agents book freight, track shipments and pull quotes on its platform, with shippers connecting Claude, ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot or their own in-house agents. ...

Colombia 'absolutely booming', as ecommerce squeezes air cargo capacity

A huge rise in Colombia's ecommerce imports are putting pressure on inbound air cargo capacity, with airlines and operators reporting thousands of tonnes arriving each week and demand for space continuing to grow. "Colombia is absolutely booming," said one airfreight wholesaler that specialises in perishables. "It's incredible the amount of business going into Colombia." The wholesaler estimated weekly ecommerce imports at 3,000 to 4,000 tonnes - a figure supported by LATAM Cargo's market intelligence. He said one customer currently moving around 1,000 tonnes a week wanted to double that volume, but all available capacity was being taken immediately. LATAM's own imported ecommerce volumes on the US-Colombia corridor rose 53% in January-August. compared with the same period last year. Simón Benzaquen, North America sales VP at LATAM Cargo Group, told The Loadstar: "This strong performance was driven by an increase in operational frequencies into Bogotá, combined with the development and expansion of new regional destinations to streamline delivery times for end consumers." Meanwhile, figures supplied by analytics company Rotate indicate that ecommerce demand is growing faster than available capacity. In its latest three-month comparison with the preceding period, Rotate recorded a 16.8% increase in ecommerce demand into Colombia, while overall cargo demand rose 1.1%. Capacity declined 6.7%. Against the equivalent three-month period last year, ecommerce demand increased 11.9%, overall demand rose 5.7% and capacity grew 4.7%. The figures suggest a tightening market for inbound space, particularly for parcel traffic. The wholesaler described a trade that pairs southbound ecommerce with northbound perishables, and said Colombia had become a recurring topic among industry contacts at the recent European cross-border ecommerce event in Liege. "Everybody I spoke to there was talking about Colombia, Colombia, Colombia," he said. LATAM estimates approximately 99% of Colombia's ecommerce import tonnage enters through Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, and Barranquilla. Its market intelligence indicates cross-border ecommerce demand has been growing at approximately 5% month on month this year. Mr Benzaquen said LATAM was developing direct import services into regional gateways to shorten delivery times and improve network efficiency. However, suggestions that the Colombian surge could partly reflect shipments being redirected to neighbouring markets remain unconfirmed. The wholesaler questioned whether some imports might be travelling onwards, to Venezuela or Brazil. LATAM, by contrast, said the import volumes it processed into Bogotá were intended for Colombian consumers. The airline also said it maintained direct access to Venezuela during the temporary disruption to its Caracas service, using recovery flights into Valencia rather than routing those shipments through Colombia. Those flights carried more than 180 tonnes of ecommerce cargo during the interruption. LATAM offers more than 100 tonnes of weekly capacity across Caracas and Valencia, which Mr Benzaquen said fully met current demand. A second weekly Miami-Caracas frequency is scheduled to begin in November, taking capacity above 150 tonnes.

Suez return a major threat to carrier efforts to halt transpac spot rate slide

Teu-mile demand growth has regressed for the first time since January, reflecting a combination of blanked sailings by major carriers during China's Golden Week, increased newbuild vessel deliveries, and more ships returning to the Suez Canal on Asia-Europe routes. According to container shipping consultancy Linerlytica, several long-haul services have been cancelled in response to weaker Chinese export volumes during the week-long holiday that began on 1 October. The blanked sailings are concentrated on Asia-US East Coast and Asia-Europe trades. Linerlytica said: "The return to the Suez route poses the biggest threat to carrier efforts to reverse the rate slide on the Asia-Europe route that have persisted for the past three months. "All carriers are making a concerted rate push from the end of October, with MSC among the latest to announce new Asia-North Europe FAK (freight all kinds) rates from 19 October of $3,150 per teu and $4,500 per 40ft." Rates on that trade have fallen around 60% since July as the early peak-season momentum faded. On 2 October, the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index showed prices at $2,199 per teu, and $3,378 per 40ft. Meanwhile, deliveries of new container vessels have accelerated after the usual summer lull. Nearly 200,000 teu of new capacity arrived last month, against no vessels demolished, adding further pressure to market capacity. Linerlytica said its market barometer had now moved into negative territory, with shipping activity expected to remain subdued over the next two weeks. The faster-than-expected resumption of Suez Canal transits, however, remains the biggest obstacle to carrier efforts to support and increase freight rates. ONE has become the latest major carrier to resume Suez Canal operations, following CMA CGM, Maersk, MSC, Hapag-Lloyd, and Cosco/OOCL. The 8,110 teu ONE Continuity, on the Japanese carrier's South-east Asia-North Europe service, is scheduled to transit the Suez Canal later this month, after leaving Thailand's Laem Chabang Port on 17 October. Other members of the Premier Alliance have yet to follow, still citing security concerns. At the same time, cargo demand continues to weaken, adding further pressure to an already challenging container shipping market.