Markets/Trades

Selling pressure on EC contracts continued today, with longer-dated contracts underperforming. This indicates that the primary driver at this point is the incremental changes in the Middle East as it moves toward a ceasefire deal. EC traders remain hopeful for one more round of freight rate increases in the FE-N.EUR before the CNY holidays. The utilization moving average ticked up slightly due to a couple of fully loaded vessels (APL CHANGI and ESTELLE MAERSK) that departed the Straits of Sing

EC contracts continued to decline throughout the day due to the possibility of a ceasefire following the fall of the Assad regime in Syria. Near-term contracts continue to outperform, fueled by hopes of another round of freight rate increases in December. Average utilization remained largely unchanged overnight. Evergreen and HMM raised their quotes by a few hundred dollars for shipments departing in the second half of December.

EC futures dropped across the board over the past week, with the earlier exuberance over the December rate hikes cooling off as spot market rates settle into a tighter range which will likely hold for the rest of the month before carriers attempt another round of rate hikes on 1 January. The SCFIS rose by 7.2% in the latest 9 December release to reach 3,033 points, but EC2412 still trades at a 12% premium at 3,398 with possible downside pressure as the mid-December rate increases appear to have

Asia-North Europe spot rates stabilized last week with rates settling into a tighter range of between $5,200 to 5,600 per FEU. The SCFI slipped marginally by 0.3% on Friday after the 22.5% surge the previous week, reflecting the roll back from the higher rates that carriers had initially targeted from the 1 Dec rate hike. The lagging SCFIS index rose by 7.2% on 9 December as the higher rates are registered. The current rates are expected to largely hold through until the end of the month, with

The containership charter rates remain firm with limited availability in all segments. Gemini Cooperation partners Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd are still scrambling to assemble sufficient ships for the launch of their new joint services starting in February 2025 with more than 20 open vessel slots still to be filled. The published schedules for February shows a large number of blanked sailings that will coincide with the port Chinese New Year slack period, but also reflects the partners’ tonnage short

COSCO remains the largest carrier on the Transpacific market, with a 16.5% share of total container volumes shipped on the Far East-US route for the 2024 contract season from May to November 2024. COSCO’s larger capacity share on the US West Coast allowed it to dominate the market compared to their European rivals (CMA CGM and Maersk) who deploys a larger proportion of their capacity on the US East Coast.

EC2502 briefly dipped below 2500 before recovering some losses. The main support for this contract hinges on the anticipated freight rate increase to $6,000 planned for December 30. However, the success of this increase will depend on vessel utilization, which has been trending downward since mid-November. Overnight, CMA CGM reduced their quotations for shipments scheduled in the second half of December by $400 to $600 per FEU.

Longer-dated EC contracts fell this morning as EC traders interpreted the fall of the Assad regime in Syria as a positive step toward peace in the Middle East. Near-dated EC contracts, such as EC2412 and EC2502, outperformed after Maersk issued an email after market on Friday (6 December) announcing a freight rate increase aimed at raising rates to $6,000 per FEU starting December 30, 2024. This $6,000/FEU target was originally set for December 1. Overall, trading volume remains light. However,

EC contracts saw minimal movement this morning as traders awaited the release of the SCFI for direction. Overnight, Maersk continued to slash their quotations, offering $4,400 per FEU from Qingdao to Rotterdam on an AE10 vessel departing on 22 December, compared to $4,700 per FEU for shipments departing from Shanghai before December 15. The utilization moving average remains around 97%, consistent with the level observed since second half of November. However, the week-to-date average utiliza

Carriers appetite for new tonnage continues to push charter rates higher. Apart from raiding the depleted charter market for additional tonnage, carriers have returned to the newbuilding market in droves with Maersk confirming a 20 ship order on top of additional charter deals as it tries to narrow the self-created gap with MSC. The orderbook ratio has rebounded to 27% from 20% in June on the back of more than 3.8m teu of new capacity that has been ordered in the last 6 months alone. The contai