Easing volumes especially to the US West Coast are starting hit spot freight rates with SCFI rates to USWC dropping by 8% last week. Zim’s surprise decision to relaunch the eCommerce Express (ZEX) service has sparked another round of rate cuts which has prompted CMA CGM to reconsider its plan to launch a similar express service in December. USEC rates are holding their ground as carriers continue to raise concerns over the Panama canal transit restrictions (in number of containership passage pe
Transpacific freight rates are holding at the $1,800-$1,850 per feu level to the US West Coast, with sentiment turning downwards ahead of the 1 September GRI (General Rate Increase). Although carriers will be able to lift rates above the $2,000 level in the coming week, there is considerable skepticism that the rates can hold through the rest of the month. Rates to the East Coast have also started to slip, with more capacity available from extra loaders and limited number of blank sailings thro
Transpacific carriers failed to hold on to their mid August rate increases and have given back part of their recent rate gains with spot rates falling back to the $1,800/feu level to the US West Coast compared to the latest SCFI assessment of $2,003/feu. Rates to the US East Coast were more resilient, with capacity reduced due to Panama Canal draft restrictions. Maersk has added 9 extra East Coast sailings since July but will be cutting back on these East Coast loaders which will be diverted to
Transpacific rates are holding steady after the 15 July rate increase, backed by the strong capacity utilization rates with bookings stretching out 3 to 4 weeks forward. Carriers are pushing ahead with the 1 Aug rate hike, which would bring rates to the US West Coast over $2,000/feu for the first time since October 2022. The rate rebound is expected to last through mid-August on the back of the strong vessel utilization with minimal capacity additions in the coming weeks. Asia-Europe rates we
Transpacific carriers successfully pushed ahead with the 15 July rate increase, with rates soaring to a 9 month high of $1,771/feu to the West Coast, based on the latest SCFI assessment. The removal of Zim’s ZNP this week will be followed by THE Alliance’s suspension of the PS5 from August, along with the disruptions from the Canadian port strike have provided positive catalysts for the rate hike planned on 1 August. Carriers are capitalizing on the tighter space situation from the rise in bla
Transpacific rates continued their decline over the past week, with carriers forced to undercut rates on both the West Coast and East Coast as capacity utilization levels are still dropping. There will be some capacity reductions over the coming weeks, with carriers expected to obtain a $200-300/feu rate increase in early July but the sustainability of the rate increase remains in doubt after the failure of the last 4 transpacific GRI attempts. Asia-Europe rates continued to slip despite relat
Transpacific rates have fallen to fresh lows with rates dropping to $1,100 to $1,150/feu to the West Coast which is below the SCFI assessment of $1,207/feu. Rates to the US East Coast rates took a larger tumble with rates set to drop below $2,000/feu compared to the current SCFI rate of $2,103. The resolution of the ILWU negotiations will put further pressure on transpacific freight rates as the threat of a peak season disruption to cargo flows into the US has been removed and with no pick up c
The intra-Asia tradelanes are coming under the most pressure at the moment with rates on several key corridors already slipping to pre-2020 levels as capacity that were previously redeployed to the Transpacific are now returning to Asia. Total containership capacity employed on the Intra-Far East routes is rising again after a 2 year decline, as ships that were redeployed to the more lucrative long-haul trades now returning in large numbers. Intra-FE capacity peaked in early 2020 at 3m teu bu
The Golden Week holidays in China provided little respite for the sliding freight and charter rates. There was no SCFI publication last week due to the Chinese holidays but SCFIS (SCFI on Settled Rates), another index also from Shanghai Shipping Exchange, was published yesterday (10 Oct) where the SCFIS for Shanghai-USWC has fallen to level last seen in May 2020: 1,384, down 11% from the last print on 26 Sep. The SCFIS for Shanghai-Northern Europe was 3,434, fell 13% since 26 Sep but still a mul