Total 165 Posts
Register Free Trial The US-China standoff continues to keep container market sentiment poor with US tariff concessions far from sufficient to restore Transpacific volumes with cargo bookings in the next 3 weeks reported to be down by 30-60% in China and by 10-20% in the rest of Asia. The Labour Day holidays will further dampen cargo demand in May, and could force carriers to cancel additional sailings over the coming weeks in order to stop further freight rate erosion. Only 3 Transpacific serv
Register Free Trial Blanket US imports tariffs announced last week have resulted in significant cargo booking cancellations in Asia, thwarting carriers’ efforts to raise transpacific freight rates and placed the May contract negotiations in limbo. The effective US tariff rate, on a container volume weighted basis, will rise substantially to 36% setting the stage for a full blown trade war with our global container demand growth projections already cut to -1.1% in 2025. EC freight futures tumbl
Register Free Trial Carriers secured their first rate gains in 2025 as they pushed through the 1 April GRI. However, the tentative capacity cuts led by MSC and OCEAN Alliance are not matched by Gemini and Premier Alliance which will continue to test the carriers’ resolve to enforce capacity discipline amidst growing concerns over weakening cargo demand as the new Trump tariffs loom. Weariness over constant changes in US trade policy have pushed shippers to conclude the new transpacific contrac
Register Free Trial The continuation of the Red Sea diversions. elevated port congestion and a relatively low level of new ship deliveries in March continues to boost the containership charter market but has failed to revive the sagging freight market with the SCFI slipping by a further 2% last week to bring YTD losses to 48%. Carriers half-hearted bid to raise rates on 1 April is coming to a premature halt, with weak cargo demand keeping capacity utilization in check. Although the number blank
Register Free Trial Capacity utilization is slipping across all key trade routes with 3 out of the 4 main tradelanes falling below 90%. Despite this, carriers are pushing ahead with new service launches with a new Asia-North Europe service and 3 new Asia-South America services to be launched next month including a new China-Mexico service that will feature 7 new Asian entrants to the Mexican market. The unabated demand for ships is keeping the charter market high despite the freight market slu
Register Free Trial MSC’s ascension to the top of the container terminal operators table was as remarkable as its rise to the top containership operator rank and leaves little room for its rivals to catch up. The bold move by MSC and its consortium partners to acquire Hutchison Ports’ terminal assets ex China will widen MSC’s global footprint, with access to new hubs in Rotterdam, Felixstowe, Port Klang, Laem Chabang, Lazaro Cardenas, Balboa and Cristobal that will complement MSC’s existing ter
Register Free Trial Carriers are finally taking action to curb capacity increases in their bid to reverse the recent freight rate slide, with MSC confirming the withdrawal of the transpacific Mustang service while also redeploying its largest 24,000 teu ships from the Asia-North Europe to the Med and West Africa routes. The OCEAN Alliance has also delayed plans to launch a new Asia-North Europe string in March, with Premier Alliance also expected to postpone the launch of 2 Transpacific strings
Register Free Trial The proposed levy on Chinese ships calling at US ports could trigger moves to switch out Chinese built ships from US trades that would cause widespread disruptions over the coming months. Chinese carriers would be most affected by the levies and their potential exodus would create a void in the market as they account for 17% of US container imports from the Far East. These uncertainties add to the current challenges that carriers are facing, with freight rates continuing to
Register Free Trial Despite the geopolitical headwinds and rapidly falling freight rates, the container markets is getting some relief from the continued vessel diversions from the Red Sea and worsening port congestion that continues to build up in Europe. The European routes are expected to see a rate rebound in March, with freight futures back in contango as forward rates in the next 6 months are expected to rise above their current levels. But the momentum is weakening on the US routes as c
Register Free Trial Container freight futures have rallied sharply, with December 2025 contracts surging by 53% over the past week as hopes for an early return of containerships to the Suez route fade. Since the 19 January ceasefire agreement in Gaza, there has been no ships diverted back to the Suez route with all main carriers retaining their Cape routing at least until March. The potential return of the diverted Suez ships would release up to 7% of the global containership capacity with the