The October futures contracts rose sharply with the longer dated contracts trading limit up on 29 July to hit the maximum daily limit of 16%, ending its 3 week losing streak. Trading sentiment were boosted by the smaller than expected drop in the SCFI assessment for North Europe on 26 July with carriers largely able to hold the rates. Although the SCFIS Europe index that was published after market close on 29 July recorded its first WoW drop of 1.5% after 13 consecutive weekly gains, traders are
SeaLead has launched a new Red Sea Gulf (RSG) service connecting Jebel Ali, Djibouti, Jeddah, Jebel Ali from 15 July 2024. The RSG service will operate on an irreglar frequency and deploys 2 heavy lift general cargo ships of 1,011 teu, the DRAGONBALL and SAPODILLA that were operating previously in the tramp trades.
Register Free Trial [https://www.linerlytica.com/register/?utm_source=W202431] 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
CStar Line has launched a new Middle East Red Sea Service 1 (MER1) connecting Jebel Ali, Djibouti, Jeddah, Djibouti, Jebel Ali from 27 July 2024. The MER1 turns in 17 to 21 days and will deploy 2 ships of 1,638 teu (CSTAR FEVRONIYA and CSTAR PETER) on an irregular rolling schedule with a frequency of around 10 to 11 days.
COSCO has relaunched the Piraeus Rijeka Express service (PRS) calling at Piraeus, Rijeka, Durres, Piraeus with the 1,924 teu DELPHIS GDANSK from 27 July 2024. The service will turn in around 10 days on an irregular rolling schedule due to the current congestion at Piraeus. COSCO first launched the PRS in July 2019 as a direct Piraeus-Rijeka feeder but the service was discontinued in 2020.
MSC will relaunch the Asia-US East Coast Liberty service from 8 August 2024 with a revised rotation calling at Shanghai, Busan, Miami, Savannah, Charleston, Philadelphia, New York, Singapore, Shanghai. The new Liberty service will turn in 12 weeks and will deploy up to 12 ships of 4,000 to 5,000 teu. The first sailing is scheduled at Singapore on 8 August 2024 with the 4,432 teu MSC HOUSTON V. Port rotation of the new MSC Liberty serviceThe Liberty is the first Asia-USEC service to be launche
Charter rates are still rising despite a slowdown in fixture activity as there is only a limited number of ships still open for charter. Most of the activity is focused on the smaller sizes below 2,000 teu where rates are still rising, but charter periods are starting to shorten with few operators willing to take these ships on longer than 12 month periods at current rates. 3 newbuildings started their charters last week, with 2 newly delivered Eastern Pacific units joining OOCL and CMA CGM res
Global port congestion remains elevated after the recent improvements observed in Southeast Asia ports, with increased delays at several neighboring ports that has seen an increase in volumes as a result of the diversions away from the congestion in Singapore and Port Klang. This includes ports like Laem Chabang, Cai Mep and Kaohsiung that have seen an increase in congestion in the past month. The higher volumes and vessel bunching has also kept waiting times at Chinese ports high especially at
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
All EC freight futures retreated last week on concerns that market rates have peaked, with the escalation in the Middle East crisis over the weekend doing little to reverse the negative trading sentiment. Apart from the August 2024 contract, all of the other contracts dropped by double digits. The SCFIS defied market expectations and recorded a 5% WoW gain after market close on 22 July which could lift the August contracts for the rest of this week but the near term sentiment continues to be fo