Congestion edged up slightly in the past week, with European port congestion remaining very severe. All North Europe main ports have reported very high yard utilization, which has been exacerbated by labour disputes in Rotterdam and Le Havre. Vessel waiting times remained elevated at up to 5 days with congestion most serious in Rotterdam, Antwerp, Southampton and Hamburg which are affecting mother vessel and feeder schedules. Some terminals have applied emergency measures to cease cargo acceptan
The USTR has proposed punitive levies for ships calling at US ports on Chinese shipping companies as well as other companies operating Chinese built ships of up to $1.5m per vessel call at US ports, with an additional charge of up to $1m per call for companies with ships on order at Chinese shipyards. The proposed trade action would hit COSCO especially hard, while Taiwanese and Korean carriers would benefit from the move as only a small proportion of their fleet are Chinese built, allowing for
EC freight futures fell sharply on early week trading due to carriers’ aggressive price cuts and the SCFIS’ 11.2% drop published after market close will fuel further price weakness in the coming week. Capacity cuts in early February has translated to a sharp drop in the number of ships departing the Strait of Singapore last week to just 97,950 teu, against the 13-week average of 286,000 teu but will rebound over the coming weeks with March capacity at 288,000 teu. EC prices declined by 3-9% wee
The planned Asia-Europe general rate increase in March is falling flat with rampant rate cutting jeopardizing plans to raise rates to $4,000/feu. Maersk was again singled out for its aggressive price cuts, with rate offers below $3,000/feu being offered through the end of March. Despite its much touted 90% reliability target for the new Gemini Cooperation network, Maersk has evidently failed to convince its customers to pay a premium and had to resort to price cuts to fill its ships. Forward c
Register Free Trial The proposed levy on Chinese ships calling at US ports could trigger moves to switch out Chinese built ships from US trades that would cause widespread disruptions over the coming months. Chinese carriers would be most affected by the levies and their potential exodus would create a void in the market as they account for 17% of US container imports from the Far East. These uncertainties add to the current challenges that carriers are facing, with freight rates continuing to
MSC will have better market coverage and a larger market share compared to the Gemini Cooperation despite operating as the sole independent carrier on the East-West trades following the alliance reshuffle in February 2025. MSC will be able to offer the same or a larger number of weekly sailings on all of the 4 main routes than Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, using its self-operated services as well as selective partnerships with Premier Alliance on the North Europe and Med routes and with Zim on the US
TS Lines have restarted the Japan-Hong Kong-Taiwan (JHTN) service calling at Hong Kong, Shekou, Xiamen, Osaka, Kobe, Busan, Kwangyang, Keelung, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong from 19 February 2025. The service retakes the JHTN name that was formerly used for the Japan-Hong Kong-Thailand-North Manila service. The revised JHTN will turn in 2 weeks and deploys the 1,182 teu TS MAWEI and 1,081 teu TS SHENZHEN. TS Lines has also restarted its Hong Kong-Thai Express Service (JHTS) calling at Nansha, Shekou, Ho
COSCO and X-Press Feeders have launched a new Chancay Express / Chile X-Press (CHX) service connecting Chancay, Callao, Lirquen, San Antonio, Chancay from 27 February 2025. The CHX will turn in 14 days using 2 ships, starting with the 1,686 teu A. IDEFIX from X-Press Feeders at Chancay on 27 February followed by the 2,586 teu LAKONIA from COSCO on 6 March. The service will provide transhipment connections at COSCO's new West Coast South America hub of Chancay to Peru and Chile.
Freight futures of Europe Contracts (EC) declined yesterday and today as Maersk and MSC reduced their quotations to $3,200-$3,940 per forty-foot equivalent unit (FEU) from $4,000-$4,340 for shipments departing in March12. The Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI) to be released after market today is expected to fall by 7-10%, as last week's rate of $1,608 per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU), or about $2,650 per FEU, remains significantly above current spot rates of around $2,200 per FEU
Zhonggu Shipping and Vietnam Maritime Corporation (VIMC) have teamed up to launch a new Qinzhou-Haiphong-Kolkata service. The service was launched on 18 February 2025 with the 529 teu XIN HAI XIU at Haiphong. The service will operate on an irregular 2-3 week frequency.