The freight rate correction gathered pace after carriers failed to defend their pre-Chinese New Year gains with the SCFI shedding 6.2% last week. Although the Red Sea dividend remain in play with spot rates still 96% higher compared to December last year, cargo demand has not rebounded sufficiently after the Chinese New Year holidays to provide rate support with carriers unable to mount a serious 1 March GRI attempt on the transpacific route ahead of the crucial annual contract negotiations. Tr
Freight rates surged across the board, with Transpacific SCFI rates rebounding sharply last week. MSC’s rate hike to $5,000/feu to the USWC and $6,900/feu to the USEC from 15 January jolted the rest of the carriers into following suit, with spot rates to both the West Coast and East Coast rising by over 40% last week. Zim has confirmed the introduction of a new PNW string from next week as it seeks to take advantage of the higher transpacific rates rates. SCFI rates made its 8th consecutive we
Transpacific freight rates have risen in tandem with European rates last week, rising to $2,553/feu to the West Coast and $3,559/feu to the East Coast, both breaching their 12 month highs. Capacity is expected to remain tight in the coming weeks, with reduced departures available in January especially on the US East Coast routes where the diversions to the Cape route will start to have an impact from week 3 onwards. Carriers are also switching ships away from the US West Coast to Europe where t
Transpacific freight rates rose across the board on continued market disruptions that have boosted carriers’ rate hike efforts. Delays at the Panama canal are starting to affect OCEAN Alliance ships as well, with THE Alliance ships already forced to divert to the Suez and Cape routes. This has reduced the capacity available for the USEC, with the situation only expected to ease from mid-January. MSC has redeployed 19,000 teu ships to its FE-USWC service, with capacity to the West Coast current
Rates to the US West Coast are slipping quickly as the window for holiday season shipments have closed even for the express e-commerce focused services, with the SCFI spot rates dropping by 4.1% last week. But rates to the East Coast are on firmer ground, with carriers pushing ahead with Panama Canal Surcharges that will kick in from December, with all of the FE-USEC services through the Panama Canal to compete for limited neo-panamax transit slots from January. SCFI spot rates to Europe have
Easing volumes especially to the US West Coast are starting hit spot freight rates with SCFI rates to USWC dropping by 8% last week. Zim’s surprise decision to relaunch the eCommerce Express (ZEX) service has sparked another round of rate cuts which has prompted CMA CGM to reconsider its plan to launch a similar express service in December. USEC rates are holding their ground as carriers continue to raise concerns over the Panama canal transit restrictions (in number of containership passage pe
The SCFI transpacific rate assessments surged for a second straight week to pass $2,100/feu to the West Coast and $2,400/feu to the East Coast but these rates cannot be sustained in the traditional slack season in November, with spot rates settling into the usual routine of early month hikes followed by mid-month declines. The same pattern will be repeated through November, with capacity rising sharply this month on both WC and EC routes. Forward capacity forecasts for November currently shows a
The SCFI transpacific rate assessments have rebounded on the back of the 1 November GRI that has brought spot rates to the West Coast above $1,900 per feu and East Coast to above $2,350 per feu. Despite this, the positive momentum on the transpacific routes will be difficult to sustain as capacity will increase through November after the cuts in October while capacity utilization continues to weaken on services to both coasts. Spot Asia-Europe freight rates surged last week ahead of the 1 Nove
Transpacific rates were largely unchanged over the past week with rates to the West Coast rates remaining firmer than the East Coast but sentiment is improving on both coasts as capacity utilization has been stronger than expected with several extra loaders notably by Maersk being added to cater to the overflow cargo. THE Alliance’s announcement late last week of the withdrawal of the EC4 in November will help to remove the surplus capacity on the East Coast especially on the Suez route which i
Transpacific rates to the US West Coast enjoyed a minor rebound last week, on the back of strong e-commerce cargo demand after the Chinese Golden Week holidays coinciding with reduced capacity availability due to blanked sailings with week 41 capacity more than 40% less than usual. East Coast rates remained under pressure but the rate of decline has slowed due to reduced capacity availability. But more space will return in November, with current projections showing a 22% increase to the West Co