This week: It remains the case that the last quarter of the current year in no way corresponds to usual developments. The challenges lie much less in processing sales and responding to enquiries than in ensuring that all contracts are processed on time. Logistics is a big problem. Shipping companies seem to have abandoned all planning; what was known for many years as reliable conference shipping has now fallen back to what used to be called tramp shipping. Ships come and go as they please, deadlines are not met, booked shipments are cancelled at short notice and the handling in the ports leaves more than a little to be desired. All at the expense of the person paying for the party, of course. By all accounts, things are not expected to get much better in the first quarter of next year either. The Chinese New Year with its interruptions in the ports in Asia is always a challenge even in normal years. How will the shipping companies deal with it this year? We’ll find out in eight weeks’ time.

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