Total 293 Posts
EC freight futures traded sharply higher on 30 September with all contracts from December 2024 to August 2025 hitting their 20% maximum daily limit, bringing their weekly gains to 41% to 55%. The US East Coast ports strike is driving the bullish short-term sentiment despite continued weakness on the Asia-Europe freight market as the SCFIS fell by 3.7% on 30 September while the SCFI dropped by 13% last week as carriers continued to slash rates ahead of the October Golden Week holidays. Average E
Spot rates to North Europe and Med dropped sharply last week, with the SCFI falling by 13.2% and 14.0% respectively as carriers continued to slash rates at an aggressive pace. Latest market rates surveyed to North Europe ranged from $2,900/feu to $3,500/feu down from $3,400/feu to $4,200/feu a week ago with the 2M and OCEAN Alliance carriers forced to match the aggressive rate cuts by THE Alliance carriers. Although port congestion remains serious across key Chinese and European ports, this ha
Short-covering continue to be the driver moving up prices of the container freight futures as traders close their freight futures positions to rotate to equities. Open interests fell 23% in a week. Main contract ie EC2412 rallied again this morning after have moved up 8% in the previous 2 trading days. Liners are still cutting their freight rates, which on average dropped 5% over the past weekend. The lowest quotation have broken below $3000/FEU with the THE Alliance liners leading the freight
Freight futures for Shanghai-North Europe route continue their rebound today with main contract which is EC2412 up 7% for the day at 10:50, following the broader capital market in China. Average online quotations for Shanghai to North Europe base ports dropped 1% to 8% overnight, with shipments departing in middle of October see the biggest freight rates cut. CMA CGM released first update since 18 Sep that it slashed its quotations by 14%. Maersk took the lead from HMM by offering the lower fr
In the Asia-Europe trade, most freight rates quoted online are still down with Hapag Lloyd making relatively bigger cut than what other liners do. Lowest FAK quotation is $3,382 per FEU from HMM. Utilization for departures on 24th Sep, both TEH services, were above average, supported by THE alliance members' more aggressive pricing. Asia-Europe Head Haul Capacity UtilizationLast Friday, the average quotation given by the liners is about $4,136/FEU, which is consistent with the SCFI (Europe)'
EC freight futures rebounded on 23 September with smaller than expected rate cut by 2M and OCEAN Alliance carrier, with the spillovers from the expected US East Coast dockworkers’ strike scheduled to start on 1 October. EC traders continue rely heavily on surveys of carriers’ FAK rate quotations which dropped by -7% last week (Week 38) compared to the -18% drop in Week 35. However, the EC rates is expected to weaken in the coming week following the 13.9% WoW drop in the SCFIS on 23 September wh
Rates to North Europe continued their sharp falls with the SCFI assessed rates falling by 8.8% to North Europe and 12.2% to the Med. Carriers continue to slash rates, with THE Alliance carriers particularly aggressive with the rate cuts last week with quotations falling below $4,000/feu. Although departures from Shanghai have been severely disrupted in the last 2 weeks due to congestion following Typhoon Bebinka, the reduced capacity available did not stop rates from dropping with demand remai
Charter rates remain broadly flat in the past week, with supply in the larger segments above 4,000 teu still very tight while more open candidates are available in the 1,700-3,000 teu segments. Maersk has been particularly active in the last month, including forward fixtures extending into 1Q 2025 as it tries to secure ships to cover its tonnage requirements for next year when the new Gemini Cooperation is scheduled to start from February. Sinotrans has taken the first 3 units of 4 ships that i
Rates to North Europe dropped by over $1,000/feu in the past week as carriers continued to slash rates in their futile attempt to secure additional cargo ahead of the Golden Week holidays on 1 October. The rate restraint at the beginning of last week was short lived, with further rate cutting still to come. Departures from Shanghai will be erratic following the aftermath of typhoon Bebinca due to serious vessel bunching that would also cause serious disruptions to vessel schedules at downstrea
EC freight futures closed higher last week, with the INE taking an extended 4-day break for the mid-autumm festival from 14 to 17 September. Traders covered their short positions over the past week after Maersk temporarily set their floor rates at $4,400 per FEU but the restraint proved short lived with carriers resuming their aggressive price cutting while Maersk lowered its online quotation to $4,000 per FEU over the weekend, marking a further 10% decrease week over week. The market is expect