Total 288 Posts
New containership deliveries has reached 1.62m TEU this year but there remains a shortage of ships globally with freight and charter rates continuing to surge ahead as the market enters the traditional summer peak season. The vessel diversions from the Red Sea to the Cape route has effectively removed more than 1.6m TEU from the market since the beginning of December while the recent increase in port congestion has taken out a further 0.5m TEU of vessel capacity from circulation as the active f
EC futures recovered essentially all of their losses after a volatile week with the longer dated contracts slumping to their 16% limit down levels on 11 June in reaction to the UN ceasefire resolution adopted on 10 June but rebounded over the next 3 trading days with little change to their pre-UN resolution levels. The main EC2408 contract was up 2% WoW, but could extend its gains this week following the SCFIS’ 10.8% WoW gain on 17 Jun. The new capacity additions on the Asia-North Europe route
Fears over a container market correction sparked by the possible end to hostilities in the Middle East proved to be premature as Chinese freight futures regaining all of last Tuesday’s losses, with further gains still to come after the SCFIS recorded a 3rd straight week of double digit % gains. The introduction of 3 new North Europe strings by Hapag-Lloyd (CGX) in June, followed by MSC (Britannia) and CMA CGM (French Peak) in July has not dampened the rate momentum with the SCFI rising by 5.7%
Global container port throughout is expected to reach a record high of 947m teu in 2024, with full year growth forecasts revised upwards to 4.7% following 2 consecutive years of lacklustre growth of 0.7% in 2022 and 2023. The sharp rise in cargo volumes in the first half of 2024 has propelled port congestion to a new 18 month year high, with notable gains at several key Asian hubs including Singapore (up 7.7% YTD), Tanjung Pelepas (up 20.1% YTD) and Colombo (up 20.4% YTD).
Spot rates to Europe have risen above their January peaks with momentum continuing to be strong given the current tight space situation with further rate hikes expected in the coming weeks. Week 22 saw just 6 out of 11 Asia-North Europe sailings depart on schedule the congestion at Singapore and Tanjung Pelepas has severely disrupted the market. Overall capacity utilization remains very high while forward capacity forecasts for June with continued delays arising from congestion, which will redu
The SCFIS index to North Europe gained a further 12.8% to reach 3,799 on 3 June 2024, further narrowing the gap between current spot rates and the CoFIF Asia-North Europe freight futures’ EC2406 and 2408 contracts which are now trading at a 10% premium to the current SCFIS. The prices for these 2 contracts with the earliest expiry dates slipped marginally last week on lower traded volumes, with the market lacking fresh directions. The June and August futures rates are now on par, which suggests
What is CoFIF? o INE Container Freight Index Futures (CoFIF) are a type of futures contract traded on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE). Where is CoFIF traded? o The Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE), an associated company of the Shanghai Futures Exchange; the two are operated and managed by the same management team. o The INE is regulated by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) and serves as every trader's ultimate counterparty. All trading profits and lo
Asia-North Europe freight futures surged to a new record high with the August 2024 CoFIF contract (EC2408) closing at 4,313 on 27 May but daily trading volumes dropped as traders waited for the next catalyst. Open interests ended the week relatively unchanged in number of lots but stand at a record high in dollar value due to the rise in prices since 9 May. Capacity utilization on the Asia-North Europe route has come off slightly from their recent high but this has not dampened freight rates wi
The CoFIF container freight index futures traded at a new hight in volatile trading last week. Initial concern that CMA CGM’s resumption of Suez transits on one of its Asia-Med strings (see page 20 Weekly News Briefs) could trigger a response by its rivals proved to be unfounded, while the Shanghai Futures Exchange’s action to enforce the position restrictions to ring-fence speculative activities did little to dampen trading volumes as average daily turnover reached $3.5bn. Open interests are do
CMA CGM was reported to have fixed the 7,092 teu newbuilding TS DUBAI at a very strong $80,000 per day rate for 3 months, setting a new rate benchmark. Momentum picked up further last week as demand remains red hot while supply of prompt units of over 2,000 teu remain very tight. The sharp rise in freight rates will fuel the charter market in the next 8 weeks with no room for rates to drop. MSC has taken delivery of 2 more ships in the resale market last week although both ships were previously