Markets/Trades

There is no SCFI assessment last week due to the Golden Week holidays in China. The SCFIS recorded a 15.9% drop on 7 October, marking its 11th consecutive weekly decline. 5 out of 18 regular sailings to North Europe were blanked last week, with a similar number of blank sailings expected in the next 2 weeks. However, the 15% reduction in overall capacity is insufficient address the lower market demand and the number of blanked sailings are also lower compared to the previous 2 years. Freight r

China’s onshore container freight futures market was closed for the Golden Week holidays from 1 to 7 October but is poised to trade weaker when it re-opens following the SCFIS’ 16% week-over-week drop on 7 October. The end of the USEC port strike also removes the last remaining hope for supply to remain tight for the remainder of the year, with a further correction in freight rates now inevitable. Carriers’ rate quotations remain largely unchanged over the past week at around $3,000/FEU with in

Carriers remain on track to report bumper 3Q earnings with COSCO Shipping setting the early pace after it issued a profit alert on 7 October showing 3Q 2024 net income improved by 286% YoY to RMB 21.3 Bn. COSCO subsidiary OOCL also released its 3rd quarter trading update with revenue rising by 74% compared to a year ago, and is also up 35% compared to the 2nd quarter led by increased rates on the Asia-Europe route (up 51%) and Transpacific (up 29%).

The US East Coast port strike has just ended. As of October 1, the container vessel capacity waiting outside the US East Coast and Gulf region amounted to 346,185 TEU. This is one of the key factors contributing to the global container vessel capacity affected by port congestion, which now stands at 2.8 million TEU. No SCFI today (4 Oct) as China is on a week-long holiday, but based on the liners' online quotations, FE-WCNA freight rates was lower since last Friday with Maersk reduced its quota

Charter rates continue to move on 2 different tracks with the larger sizes of over 4,000 teu continuing to power ahead while the rates for the smaller sizes are easing gradually. Carriers are still scrambling to secure all available tonnage in the larger segments with forward deliveries now stretching into 2Q 2025. CMA CGM, COSCO, Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk were the most active carriers with various extensions and forward fixtures concluded in the last 2 weeks. Hapag-Lloyd has taken 4 units of the

EC freight futures traded sharply higher on 30 September with all contracts from December 2024 to August 2025 hitting their 20% maximum daily limit, bringing their weekly gains to 41% to 55%. The US East Coast ports strike is driving the bullish short-term sentiment despite continued weakness on the Asia-Europe freight market as the SCFIS fell by 3.7% on 30 September while the SCFI dropped by 13% last week as carriers continued to slash rates ahead of the October Golden Week holidays. Average E

Spot rates to North Europe and Med dropped sharply last week, with the SCFI falling by 13.2% and 14.0% respectively as carriers continued to slash rates at an aggressive pace. Latest market rates surveyed to North Europe ranged from $2,900/feu to $3,500/feu down from $3,400/feu to $4,200/feu a week ago with the 2M and OCEAN Alliance carriers forced to match the aggressive rate cuts by THE Alliance carriers. Although port congestion remains serious across key Chinese and European ports, this ha

Short-covering continue to be the driver moving up prices of the container freight futures as traders close their freight futures positions to rotate to equities. Open interests fell 23% in a week. Main contract ie EC2412 rallied again this morning after have moved up 8% in the previous 2 trading days. Liners are still cutting their freight rates, which on average dropped 5% over the past weekend. The lowest quotation have broken below $3000/FEU with the THE Alliance liners leading the freight

Freight futures for Shanghai-North Europe route continue their rebound today with main contract which is EC2412 up 7% for the day at 10:50, following the broader capital market in China. Average online quotations for Shanghai to North Europe base ports dropped 1% to 8% overnight, with shipments departing in middle of October see the biggest freight rates cut. CMA CGM released first update since 18 Sep that it slashed its quotations by 14%. Maersk took the lead from HMM by offering the lower fr

In the Asia-Europe trade, most freight rates quoted online are still down with Hapag Lloyd making relatively bigger cut than what other liners do. Lowest FAK quotation is $3,382 per FEU from HMM. Utilization for departures on 24th Sep, both TEH services, were above average, supported by THE alliance members' more aggressive pricing. Asia-Europe Head Haul Capacity UtilizationLast Friday, the average quotation given by the liners is about $4,136/FEU, which is consistent with the SCFI (Europe)'