Total 238 Posts
Freight rates remain under pressure with peak season volumes yet to materialise. Rates are expected to remain soft until the end of July when carriers will try to push for a new round of rate increases.
Capacity utilization has not collapsed as suggested by Freightwaves but the average utilization has trended lower than usual seasonal patterns, partly due to the increased capacity available.
overall capacity on transpacific routes have increased materially in the past week and has outpaced demand as some carriers are offering rates below $7,000/feu to the West Coast
The alarmist reports of catastrophic demand drop are unwarranted. The recent weakness in smaller transpacific NVOCC bookings only reflect volume shifts as BCOs are able to book directly. Anyhow, demand has not picked up sufficiently...
TP eastbound volume may not have collapsed as some may believe these two days. Utilization for vessels heading to North America has been healthy since end of May. The number of sailings have dropped in the last two weeks but schedule slippage and bunching have been the norm since 2020
Transit time performance were mixed in the 4 main trades last week, with improvements seen in the PSW and USEC ports but worsening waiting times in the PNW as well as the North European and Med ports.
Average capacity is 17.7% higher to the USEC compared to a year ago, with cargo diversions from the USWC continuing in anticipation of a potential disruption at the west coast gateway ports from the ILWU contract negotiations.
There is still more capacity increases expected in the next 3 weeks, with an average of over 330,00 teu expected in June, comparing to 287,000 teu in last week. As highlighted previously, carriers are not removing any capacity on the European trade despite clear signs of demand softness.
Average capacity in the last 13 weeks has inched up 0.4% higher compared to the same period last year, as the easing congestion in LA/LB have encouraged the new carriers including CUL, BAL, TS Lines, Sea-Lead, Transfar and Swire to add capacity on this route
Transpacific spot freight rates have held their ground last week, with recent rate declines halted as the market prepares for a rebound from the extended lockdown in Shanghai.