Container freight rates are poised to fall by over 70% by June next year, based on the latest CoFIF EC contracts traded on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE). Although the drop is not as severe as the freight rate collapse seen at the end of 2022, current freight futures prices anticipate continuous declines over the coming 12 months, with no rebound expected at the end of this year and no repeat of this year’s post Chinese New Year rate rally in 2025. Carriers have failed to che
Register Free Trial [https://www.linerlytica.com/register/?utm_source=W202435] Carriers failed to check the decline in freight rates with the SCFI slipping by 5.6% last week, led by sharp drops on the Transpacific and Middle East routes. The SCFIS, which is a better measure of actual market spot rates, have been dropping continuously since its July peak to the US West Coast in contrast to the SCFI false signal of a rate rebound a week ago, with cumulative losses reaching 38% since July. The ou
The 16,022 teu CMA CGM JULES VERNE has made an eastbound Suez Canal passage on 13 August 2024 and after a stop at Jeddah, the ship passed the Bab al-Mandab Strait on 19 August without any incident. It marks the largest containership to return to the Suez/Red Sea route since February this year, with all the other main carriers still avoiding the passage to avoid attacks on vessels by Houthi militants in Yemen. The CMA CGM JULES VERNE is deployed on the Mediterranean Club Express (MEX) using 15 s
X-Press Feeders have deployed the first 2 of its 1,260 teu methanol dual fuel containerships on the Green Finland X-PRESS (GFX) service connecting Rotterdam, Antwerp, Helsinki, Tallinn, Kotka, Rotterdam. The GFX was launched on 12 July 2024. with the methanol fueled 1,260 teu ECO MAESTRO, with the sistership ECO LEVANT joining the service on 17 August 2024. The 2 ships are part of 14 dual-fuel units that X-Press Feeders have ordered at 3 separate shipyards in China for delivery in 2024-26 that
The newbuilding market remains red hot with PIL the latest carrier to jump in with a new order for 5 LNG dual fuel units of 13,000 teu at Hudong Zhonghua announced on 19 August 2024. The ships are aimed at the Latin America trade with deliveries starting from late 2026. Wan Hai also confirmed LOIs for 16 new methanol dual fuel units of 8,000-8,700 teu at CSBC and Hyundai Samho. These orders bring the total containership newbuilding capacity contracted since the start of 2024 to 2m teu, with the
Port congestion remains elevated through the past week with North Asia and South America experiencing the most severe delays. Delays at Chinese ports have remained acute, with Ningbo and Shanghai seeing especially high levels of congestion. The explosion at the port of Ningbo on 9 August on board the 6,588 teu YM MOBILITY has affected operations at the Ningbo Beilun Second Container Terminal (NBSCT) but the port remains open despite various erroneous reports on the closure of Ningbo port. NBSCT
Asia-Europe rates are faltering with the capacity overhang in play while demand has started to slow. Port congestion along the Asia-Europe corridor is still keeping capacity growth in check. Although capacity utilization remains healthy and is still running at 3% higher compared to a year ago, the earlier space pressure has eased with average utilization for the week before falling to 92% as opposed to the preliminary reading of 96% reported last week as a few late sailings departed from the las
Continued spot rate weakness and renewed Gaza ceasefire talks brought the longer dated EC futures contracts down to their daily limit on 19 August. EC2408 contracts held up with the SCFIS falling by less than expected, down by 2.3% WoW after market close. EC2410 also largely held its ground as the October contracts are already trading at a 48% discount to current spot rates. The latest EC2410 closing price has built in weekly drops of 7% each week over the next 2 months against the SCFIS’ 1-2%
Maersk continues to underperform the rest of the market with the lowest EBIT earnings margins in the 2nd quarter of 2024 compared to all of its main publicly listed peers. Maersk’s Ocean shipping segment recorded EBIT margins of just 5.6% for the quarter compared to an average margin of 21.3% posted by 8 of its main rivals with only COSCO and OOCL yet to report their earnings figures. It marks the 3rd consecutive quarter that Maersk was placed at the bottom of the earnings league table, with i
Register Free Trial [https://www.linerlytica.com/register/?utm_source=W202434] The SCFI rebounded by 0.8% last week but is unlikely to hold on to these gains with freight rates coming under pressure on both the Asia-Europe and Transpacific routes. Carriers failed to push ahead with the planned 15 August transpacific rate hikes and allowed rates to the US West Coast to slip with the lower rates to show up on the coming week’s SCFI reading. Carriers will be making another push for a September rat