Total 337 Posts
Charter rates are still holding up with limited open tonnage available and several carriers still not fully covered for their immediate vessel requirements. Chartering activity slowed down last week due to the Lunar New Year holidays across most of Far East Asia, although European carriers have remained active with Maersk in particular still seeking to cover their requirements for the next 6 months. Maersk has fixed the 8,030 teu MANZANILLO BRIDGE on a 4 month charter at a hefty $100,000 per da
The US will impose 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and an additional 10% from China from 4 February 2025, with no room for shippers to front load their cargo as only goods that are already in transit to the US before 1 February 2025 will be exempted. These moves will do little to reverse the worsening container trade imbalance in the US, with imports continuing to outpace exports by 2.4 times last year compared to 1.8 times in 2017 before import tariffs were introduced in 2018. Lo
Fixture activity has remained brisk with both extensions and new charters still fuelling the charter market rally with rates still strengthening apart from the 1,100 teu and smaller segments where there is sufficient availability to meet existing demand. For larger sizes, including the 1,700 teu segment, vessel availability remains extremely tight in the short term and charter rates will remain firm until this situation changes. With all of the main carriers still retaining the Cape routing in
EC freight futures recovered most of their YTD losses last week in active trading with volumes rebounding by 23% while open interest shrunk by 17% as some traders closed their short positions ahead of the Chinese New Year holidays. The International Energy Exchange (INE), where EC contracts are listed, will be closed from 28 January to 4 February. End February contracts (EC2502) remained largely unchanged and now trades at an 18% discount to latest spot rates after the SCFIS slipped by a furthe
Although freight futures rallied last week on a potential breakdown in the Middle East peace deal, it has not stopped spot rates from sliding further. Maersk has fired another fresh salvo with further rate cuts in for shipments to North Europe, dropping its online FAK quotation to $2,500 per FEU from $2,800 for shipments scheduled to depart after 10 February. Current spot rates to North Europe have dropped by $250/FEU in the past week to around $3,000/FEU. The relentless pressure in the spot ma
Carriers will retain their current Cape of Good Hope routing in February with no immediate return planned to the Red Sea despite the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement concluded on 19 January 2025. According to Linerlytica’s survey of vessels diverted to the Cape route, the total number of ships have risen in the last 10 days driven by the busy shipping window before the Chinese New Year. If the fragile ceasefire in Gaza fails to hold, the vessel diversions affecting some 350 ships for 4.5m TEU c
Longer-dated contracts continue to rebound, primarily due to short covering as traders speculate on the schedule of liners' return to Red Sea. FAK quotations from liners have remained largely unchanged, with liners still holding at the low $3,000 level, consistent with the current EC2502 price. However, vessel utilization continues to trend downward.
The longer-dated contracts rebounded with high volume as traders re-assessed the schedule for liners' return to the Red Sea. Meanwhile, CMA CGM announced that the "CMA CGM COLUMBA will sail through the Suez Canal to call at the port of Jeddah as part of a single ad hoc call. Vessels on the EPIC service will therefore not systematically transit through the Suez Canal." ONE has revised its online spot quotation from $2,228 to $3,100 per FEU to remain in the pack with other liners. However, freigh
Port congestion continues to hold up 8.5% of the global fleet at the end of last week, with European and Southeast Asian ports experiencing worsening delays ahead of the new alliance reshuffle that will take place in early February. Very high yard utilization is reported across all main European ports, with Rotterdam under particular scrutiny as the ECT labour dispute threatens to spiral into strikes although no confirmed dates have been announced. Although market attention has shifted to the e
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