There is no fresh direction on the transpacific, with rates continuing to erode. Although the SCFI rates to the USWC held above $4,000 per feu, carriers are offering special rates that were as much as $500 lower than these FAK rates in order to secure additional volumes. The recent rate correction has weakened carriers’ bargaining position for the new service contract that will start from May 2024 with final contract rate levels expected at below $2,000/feu against benchmark rates of $1,200-1,6
CoFIF trading volume slumped to a new low of 10,101 lots last Friday (9 March 2024) as speculative sentiment cooled. Based on an estimated ratio of one lot to 10 teu, the reduced CoFIF daily trading volumes still amounts to 100,000 teu, which provides significant market liquidity that matches the daily turnover of the dry bulk FFA which has a longer trading history. However, CoFIF is digitally traded as opposed to dry bulk FFAs that trade over-the-counter. Open interest, an indicator of traders
Register Free Trial [https://www.linerlytica.com/register/?utm_source=W202411] Conflicting signals abound in a market looking for fresh directions, with freight rates continuing to slide as the SCFI dropped by 4.7% last week bringing the cumulative decline to 15.8% since its January peak. However, charter rates continue to firm while second hand vessel prices are still rising as demand for tonnage remains high. The recent freight rate correction has not deterred new entrants, with another Chin
Hede Shipping will launch a new transpacific service from 20 March 2023 with the first sailing connecting Shanghai to Los Angeles using the 3,426 teu BFAD ATLANTIC. At Los Angeles, the service is scheduled to call at West Basin Container Terminal (WBCT) on 3 April. The Hede Direct Service (HDS) is expected to operate on a weekly basis on a 4 week roundtrip using 4 ships of 3,000-4,200 teu with an advertised transit time of 13 days from Shanghai to Los Angeles. The move will mark Hede’s entry
Matson has changed the name of its China-Long Beach Express Plus (CLX+) service to the Matson Asia Express (MAX) from 18 February 2024. A 6th ship will be added to the service with a new call at Dutch Harbor added from 10 March 2024. The revised MAX rotation will call at Ningbo, Shanghai, Long Beach, Dutch Harbor, Ningbo using 6 ships of 2.800-4,250 teu. The service will retain an 11 day transit time from Shanghai to Long Beach.
Yang Ming reported headline numbers for its 2023 full year results after market on 7 March. And both Yang Ming and Evergreen reported February revenue last few days. For February, Yang Ming's revenue were up 21% YoY but only 1% MoM, comparing to CCFI's 31% Yoy and 21% MoM. Yang Ming's relatively low MoM upside relative to CCFI's was likely because February usually has lower volume than January due to Chinese New Year holidays. Since 2013, the February revenue was 10% lower MoM for Yang Ming.
Samskip has added a second vessel to the Samskip Baltic Sea service with the addition of a new call at Klaipeda and shift its UK call from Hull to Immingham from March 2024. The extended Samskip Baltic Sea service will replace the existing Samskip Finland & Latvia service that was first introduced in November 2023. The revised service will call at Immingham, Rotterdam, Helsinki, Riga, Klaipeda, Immingham on a 14 day rotation with 2 ships of 803 teu (JSP RIDER and JSP ROVER). Samskip Baltic Se
The OCEAN Alliance partners (CMA CGM, COSCO, OOCL and Evergreen) have extended their 10 year cooperation agreement that started in April 2017 for 5 more years until 31 March 2032. The move will cement the group’s dominant position as the largest global carrier alliance, with a significant lead over their rival alliances on both the Transpacific and Asia-Europe routes. The move also leaves the remaining members of THE Alliance partners stranded as they will not be able to draw one of the OCEAN A
Medkon and Turkon have launched a new service connecting Turkey with the Red Sea from 3 March 2024. The new service is branded as Red Sea Express Service/Türkiye Red Sea Service (RSX/TRS) respectively by Medkon and Turkon to call at Iskenderun, Mersin, Jeddah, Aqaba, Iskenderun. The service will turn in 2 weeks using 2 ships of 1,100 teu starting with the 1,131 teu LEYLA KALKAVAN on 3 March 2024 followed by the 1,134 teu MEDKON PERLA will start on 13 March 2024.
The freight rate correction gathered pace after carriers failed to defend their pre-Chinese New Year gains with the SCFI shedding 6.2% last week. Although the Red Sea dividend remain in play with spot rates still 96% higher compared to December last year, cargo demand has not rebounded sufficiently after the Chinese New Year holidays to provide rate support with carriers unable to mount a serious 1 March GRI attempt on the transpacific route ahead of the crucial annual contract negotiations. Tr