Total 318 Posts
EC freight futures slid further following the Gaza ceasefire agreement, pushing the forward curve further into backwardation. The SCFIS spot index fell by 14.5% week-on-week, but forward rates are expected to drop by a further 55%-65% over the next 12 months. Average daily trading volume rebounded by 36% week-on-week, exceeding 75,000 lots per day, while open interest rose by 11%, approaching 2024 highs. The EC2502 contract held its ground with a relatively small 2% drop but trading volumes dro
Freight rates to North Europe continued to slip with the SCFI falling by 6.6% while the SCFIS dropped by 14.5%. Although most carriers are holding their rate quotations through mid-February with Far East offices to be shut for the Lunar New Year holidays, rates are still under pressure with vessel utilization already dipping ahead of the holidays and carriers are reported to be unsuccessful in building up any significant roll pool before the holidays. Further rate deterioration is expected with
The EC experienced a sell-off this morning following the ceasefire deal in Gaza. While it remains uncertain when the liners will return to the Suez/Red Sea, most EC contracts are already trading at levels not seen since mid-December 2023. There has been no new utilization data since yesterday, and the liner's FAK online quotations have decreased.
EC contracts continued to decline as traders anticipated a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas before the end of March. The near-term fundamentals in the physical market are also weak, as the pre-Lunar New Year cargo rush has been insufficient to counter the highest capacity deployment on the Far East to North Europe route in two years, resulting in falling head haul vessel utilization. Liners have continued to slash their online quotations. Traders expressed their bearish outlook, primari
Longer-dated container freight futures contracts for April to December 2025 fell by 5-12% week-over-week, with the futures market in steep backwardation as freight rates are expected to drop by 55 to 65% below current spot rates for most of 2025. The SCFIS recorded its second successive decline this year, dropping by a further 3.8% after last week’s 3.6% fall. The resolution of the ILA contract negotiations on the US East Coast removed the only potential catalyst for a freight rate rally, with
Asia-North Europe SCFI rates slipped by 14.5% last week, effectively erasing all the gains that carriers have secured in December. Although capacity utilization remains strong, the average capacity on the North Europe route in January remains at a 2 year high as carriers try to hold their volumes ahead of the new alliance reshuffle next month. The OCEAN Alliance’s launch of the new Loop 3 service from April will add up to 5% to overall FE-North Europe capacity, setting the stage for a fresh rou
The freight futures made a same-day U-turn yesterday and edged up a bit more today after the OCEAN Alliance yesterday announced additional blank sailings for February. However, the liners continue to slash their freight rate quotations for shipments leaving in the next few weeks. Utilization has continued to trend downward as weekly capacity reached a 12-month high. The SCFI Europe is expected to report a double-digit decline after the market closes today.
The EC contracts continue to decline due to aggressive pricing from the largest shipping lines and concerns about a potential resumption of Red Sea passage under the Trump administration. On the liners' pricing, Maersk has offered the lowest quotation at $3,400 per FEU for shipments departing on January 20 and January 22. Tianjin - North Europe freight index, being published daily by Tianjin Shipping Exchange, dropped 5.65% overnight today.
Charter market activity has been muted in the last 2 weeks due to the Christmas and New Year holidays with attention mostly focused on the smaller sizes. Rates for both the 1,100 teu and 1,700 teu classes continue to firm on healthy demand across all markets. Above 2,700 teu, there are very few open candidates apart from takers willing to accept forward fixtures that now extend to the 2nd half of the year. COSCO has been most active in the past week with charter renewals and new fixtures that we
EC container freight futures plunged between 4% and 11% week on week, with April contracts taking the hardest hit. Although average daily trading volume ticked up by 4%, it is 29% lower than the 2024 full year average of 87,000 lots per day. The EC2502 February contract dropped 9% WoW and is currently trading at a 40% discount to the latest SCFIS index released after market close on 6 January, with rising concerns over carriers’ aggressive pricing in January with further rate cuts expected post