SCFI

Rates to North Europe continue to hold up much  better than the Transpacific, with the SCFI falling just 2.9% from this year’s peak compared to the 22.9% decline on the US West Coast and the 7.9% decline to the Med. Although EC freight futures continue to weaken, carriers are still in a strong position as overall capacity to North Europe remains limited with the 13 week moving average (13wma) still down 3.4% compared to last year despite recent new capacity additions. Actual departures from Asi

Carriers are pushing for a mid-August rate hike to the US West Coast in an attempt to reverse the recent rate slide on that route. The carriers’ resolve will be keenly tested as recent capacity additions on the Asia to US West Coast and Mexico routes have tilted the supply-demand balance on the previously tight market with capacity utilisation falling despite strong peak season cargo demand. The carriers’ ability to hold Asia-Europe rates last week gave the freight futures market a much needed b

SCFI spot rates to North Europe slipped marginally by 1% to $5,000/teu but further drops are expected with capacity utilization falling sharply last week. The 3 recently launched services by Hapag-Lloyd, CMA CGM and MSC sailed light while the other main Alliance services also recorded sub-par utilization compared to their recent performance. The gap between Med and North Europe rates have narrowed further, with the current Med premium falling to just $360/teu compared to a high of over $1,000/t

The SCFI retreated last week by 1.6% after 14 consecutive weekly gains in a further sign that the market has peaked. While demand remains firm, supply has also risen with capacity injections most notably in the Indian subcontinent, Latin America and US West Coast routes where freight rates are the most lucrative currently. This has capped freight rate increases on those routes, but overall capacity utilisation remains tight, with rates still rising on the Asia-North Europe route as schedule disr

SCFI rates to North Europe slipped back marginally after last week’s 12.5% gain with the 1 July rate increase still largely in place. Carriers are still pushing for a mid-July increase, with mixed views on whether this fresh round of rate hikes will stick. Capacity utilization has slipped in the last 2 weeks, with the launch of 3 new FE-North Europe services and bunching departures on 3 other strings adding some 100,000 teu of additional slots to the market. Slot availability will be down over

SCFI spot freight rates to North Europe surged by 12.5% with the peak season demand surge continuing while supply is still constrained by port congestion. Pre-GRI cargo bookings surged ahead of the 1 July rate hikes which pushed up demand further despite new capacity from Hapag-Lloyd and CMA CGM as well as several extra loaders using smaller ships. The launch of MSC’s Britannia in July will put further pressure on overall capacity utilization to North Europe which remains tight despite the intr

SCFI spot freight rates to North Europe rose a further 3.8% last week, while rates to the Med were largely flat with a gain of just 0.1%. The tighter capacity and bottlenecks around Southeast Asia and North Europe ports have helped to narrow the rate gap between North Europe and Med which has shrunk to $500/teu compared to a peak of over $1,000/teu just 2 months earlier. Rates look set to continue to rise in July but the pace of the rate gains could slow as the recent capacity additions to Nort

Fears over a container market correction sparked by the possible end to hostilities in the Middle East proved to be premature as Chinese freight futures regaining all of last Tuesday’s losses, with further gains still to come after the SCFIS recorded a 3rd straight week of double digit % gains. The introduction of 3 new North Europe strings by Hapag-Lloyd (CGX) in June, followed by MSC (Britannia) and CMA CGM (French Peak) in July has not dampened the rate momentum with the SCFI rising by 5.7%

Spot rates to Europe have risen above their January peaks with momentum continuing to be strong given the current tight space situation with further rate hikes expected in the coming weeks. Week 22 saw just 6 out of 11 Asia-North Europe sailings depart on schedule the congestion at Singapore and Tanjung Pelepas has severely disrupted the market. Overall capacity utilization remains very high while forward capacity forecasts for June with continued delays arising from congestion, which will redu

Transpacific spot rates rallied sharply last week ahead of the 1 May GRI with rates to the West Coast rising to $3,600/feu and East Coast rates reaching $4,600/feu. Several carriers are still pushing for additional increases that could bump rates past $4,000 and $5,000 respectively over the coming week. Capacity remains tight in May but additional capacity on the West Coast is expected in June which could ease some of the current rate pressure. OCEAN Alliance has suspended the NEU3/AUE7/FAL7 se