The North Europe SCFIS published after market close on 9 June rose by 29.5% to 1,623 points but remains 20% below the last EC2506 closing price which had risen by 6% over the past week in anticipation of the gains with carriers still eyeing another attempt to raise rates in mid-July. Open interest remains elevated at 7,803 contracts with just three weeks to expiry and could face selling pressure if the mid-July rate hike flops. Futures contracts for August-December traded sideways with no new c
Asia to US freight rates have peaked after carriers rolled back the increases from the last 2 weeks as the new Transpacific capacity injections have exceeded market demand, especially to the Los Angeles/Long Beach PSW gateway where carriers are struggling to fill the ships. Although PNW and US East Coast capacity remains tight, it will not be enough to push through a fresh round of rate increases in mid-June as the carriers focus on holding their recent gains. Carriers’ initial exuberance has be
Register Free Trial Asia to US freight rates have peaked after carriers rolled back the increases from the last 2 weeks as the new Transpacific capacity injections have exceeded market demand, especially to the Los Angeles/Long Beach PSW gateway where carriers are struggling to fill the ships. Although PNW and US East Coast capacity remains tight, it will not be enough to push through a fresh round of rate increases in mid-June as the carriers focus on holding their recent gains. Carriers’ init
TS Lines will introduce a new Japan Thailand Express (JTX) service from 24 June 2025 when it joins CMA CGM/CNC as a vessel operator on the latter's revised JTX service that replaces its former Japan-Taiwan-Hong Kong-Thailand 1 (JTXCNC) service. The new JTX service will call at Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka, Kobe, Shekou, Nansha, Laem Chabang, Hong Kong, Shekou, Tokyo with the former calls at Kaohsiung, Taichung and Keelung dropped. The service will turn in 28 days using 4 ships of 2,400 to 3,0
CMA CGM will launch a new Kilima Xpress service connecting Shanghai, Ningbo, Nansha, Singapore, Colombo, Mombasa, Dar es Salaam, Colombo, Singapore, Shanghai. The Kilima Xpress service will turn in 8 weeks and will deploy 8 ships of 3,500-5,000 teu starting from 4 August 2025 with the 4,231 teu CMA CGM TARRAGONA.
The futures market is not satisfied with Maersk quoting $2,800 per FEU for the Shanghai to London route, which is above traders’ expectations. EC2508 closed today 2% below yesterday’s closing price. The liners’ decision to slash their quotations for the FE-WCNA route, along with both CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd lowering their rates for near-term FE-NEUR shipments, are red flags for traders.
EC2508 rallied into the close of the morning session on market chatter that Maersk may list some freight rates above $2,400 per FEU for the third week of June. Maersk typically starts by offering a freight rate low enough to secure bookings 2-4 weeks out, then lets the market bid up the price. As a result, it tends to begin each week’s sailings with lower rates.
The freight futures market in Shanghai remained range-bound today, as participants await Maersk’s quotation for the third week of June, despite CMA CGM and MSC pushing for rates of $3,900–4,000 per FEU from the second half of June.
Transpacific freight rates recorded their largest ever one week jump as the impact of TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out) from the roll back of US tariffs has provided a windfall for the container market. The market surge has also spilled over into the charter market where vessel availability is very low and carriers are still seeking tonnage to take advantage of the large rate hikes. The legal challenge in the US to Trump’s tariffs has added further uncertainty to the transpacific traffic volumes
Charter rates have retraced all of their recent slump after the reversal of the US tariffs pushed the market back up to where they started in early April. Vessel availability in the larger sizes remains very limited with all open candidates over 4,000 teu including relet units already snapped up or withdrawn. Forward deliveries have stretched into September but with little clarity on market direction after the 90-day tariff truce ends in the US, only a few carriers are willing to commit forward