The containership charter market remains very buoyant, although total fixture volumes are relatively low due to limited vessel availability. SeaLead has taken the over-panamax 6,078 teu BZ CHONGFU on a 24-month charter in a deal that was fixed before the inclusion of 16 of its chartered on the US OFAC sanctions list. The Singapore-based carrier is now very short of tonnage as it has terminated the charter of the 16 ships with a total capacity of 74,286 teu ranging in size from 2,400 teu to 6,900
Register Free Trial The 90 day tariff extension for China moves the current US tariff expiration to 10 November 2025, but the impact on container volumes will be limited as front loading has already shifted most of the peak season cargo in June and July. Further rate weakness on the Transpacific and Asia-Europe routes were recorded last week with the SCFI slipping for its 10th consecutive weekly decline, with the composite index shedding 35% of its value in that period. Prospects for a rate reb
The freight futures market edged higher again today, though the main activity was a continued liquidation of EC2510 positions. The 1.1% rise in EC2510 was therefore largely the result of short covering. Despite pricing in a downcycle over the next 12 months, futures traders remain firmly of the view that (1) liners will be able to push up freight rates during each seasonal uplift in volume, and (2) $2,000 per FEU is a strong resistance level. The SCFI Europe index, released after the close, fel
Prices for longer-dated contracts rebounded slightly on thinner volumes and some liquidations. The benchmark EC2510 contract edged down 0.18%, while open interest fell by 4,042 to 56,698 contracts — possibly an early sign that long-position holders are throwing in the towel. Vessel utilization for the first 9 sailings of Far East-North Europe route this week rebounded to 96% but still below the peak of 97% in July. Track vessel utilization here. Hapag Lloyd lowered its quotations for the Augus
Wan Hai will return to the Asia-Med trade with the launch of the new Far East-Mediterranean 1 (FM1) service calling at Shanghai, Ningbo, Nansha, Shekou, Port Klang, Jeddah, Aqaba, Sokhna, Alexandria, Izmit, Ambarli, Shanghai from 12 September 2025. The FM1 service will turn in 10 weeks using ships of 4,300 teu to 5,000 teu starting with the 4,680 teu WAN HAI 513 at Shanghai on 12 September. The service features an extension of Wan Hai's Asia-Red Sea 2 (AR2) extra loader service that was launched
The debate over where freight rates will settle in October continues. Short-sellers came in this morning with fresh capital, pushing all contract prices lower. Yet it would be remiss not to note that open interest has risen to 87,000, indicating that long-position holders have not only resisted liquidating but have, on the contrary, added to their positions. Based on the exchange’s broker-level open interest report, most of the increase in long positions reflects new entries, indicating a wave o
Transpacific cargo volumes rebounded sharply in July, with total Far East-US container arrivals reaching 1.810m TEU, surpassing the previous record of 1.805m TEU in January 2022. China’s share of the total volumes recovered to 55%, up from 48% in the previous 2 months. Although Vietnam’s share slipped from the peak of 20% last month to 17%, total volumes from Vietnam still reached a record high of 310,500 teu. The rally comes as higher US import tariffs take effect on 7 August 2025, with Transp
The SCFIS index to North Europe dropped for the 4th consecutive week, shedding 2.7% on 11 August to 2,235 points with further weakness expected through October, with EC2508 and EC2510 trading at a 7% and 37% discount. Average EC trading volumes dropped to 50,000 contracts last week but open interest rose 9% on the week to above 80,523. The EC2510 contract is now the most hotly traded, with 56,688 open positions—the third‑highest on record, behind only EC2404 and EC2406 positions in December 2023
North Europe rates remain under pressure with spot rates dropping below $2,900/feu against the latest SCFI assessment of $3,234/feu. Carriers continue to slash rates after capacity utilization slipped in the past week. Average weekly capacity in August will be higher than July, with weeks 32-34 expected at over 350,000 teu per week. Gemini carriers continue to maintain a 100% sailing record on its North Europe network, with no blank sailings since April. While this approach has enabled Maersk
COSCO and OOCL will launch a new Asia-Mexico Express (WSA8/TLP8) service connecting Shanghai, Qingdao, Ensenada, Manzanillo, Ensenada, Yokohama, Shanghai from 20 August 2025. The WSA8/TLP8 service will turn in 7 weeks and willl deploy 7 ships of 3,300 to 4,300 teu to starting with the 4,250 teu XIN FANG CHENG at Shanghai on 20 August 2025.