Total 288 Posts
Spot freight rates tumbled for the 6th consecutive week as the SCFI shed a further 6% last week with more cuts still to come. Carriers failed to push through a mid-March rate increase, with hopes for an April rate hike also fading quickly. Transpacific rates continue to fall sharply, with both the West Coast and East Coast rates tumbling by more than 6% last week. There is still room for rates to fall, with spot rates still 10-20% lower than the current SCFI assessments. Contract rate negotia
Asia-Europe futures CoFIF prices stayed broadly unchanged for the past week on flat trading volumes with spot SCFIS rates dropping further on 18 March to 2,437 points to close the gap with current EC2404 futures which closed at 1,826 points. International Energy Exchange (INE), the exchange where CoFIF contracts are being traded, announced new measures to spur trading volumes after market close on 18 March for EC2406-EC2412: (1) drop the margin requirement from 22% to 18%, meaning for every dol
The Red Sea disruptions continue to drive charter rates, with average charter rates rising by a further 3% last week with healthy gains across all size segments. The larger sizes continue to enjoy the biggest gains, with vessel availability failing to match demand. Activity in the panamax segment remains active, with last done rates rising above $25,000 for the first time in 9 months. The availability of ships larger than 5,000 teu remains very limited, with demand still uncovered which will c
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 Chinese carrier set to launch a transpacific service in March. Total containership
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
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
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
The CoFiF market shrugged off the 9% drop in the SCFI Asia-North Europe rates last week as the drop was already widely anticipated with forward rates still trading at a discount to spot. The latest SCFIS (Europe) index on 4 March dropped by 3.0% after the previous week’s 9.5% fall with the smaller decline helping to curb further selling in the CoFiF market. With the EC2404 expiration date drawing closer, trading volumes have dropped amidst uncertainty over the extent and speed of further rate
There are basically two freight futures products one being Freightos Baltic's CFFA(container freight forward agreement) being traded at SGX (Singapore Exchange) and CME (Chicago Mercantile Exchange), and INE's CoFIF (container freight index futures). INE (International Energy Exchange) is the exchange that faces offshore traders/users under Shanghai Futures Exchange. Key findings: 1. CoFIF has liquidity while CFFA doesn't. Liquidity is probably 99.9% of the determining factors about whet