Market speculation of a management buyout at Zim has sparked a rally in the company’s shares with CEO Eli Glickman reported to have partnered with Abraham Ungar who owns Ray Shipping to make a bid to acquire the Israeli carrier. Zim’s share price has been trading at a discount of over 50% to its book value and is expected to release its 2nd quarter financial results on 20 August.
The move comes as freight rates continue to slip with the SCFI falling for the 9th consecutive week and carriers’ earnings are starting to reflect the worsening rates. Maersk reported declining 2Q EBIT margins at 2.7% compared to 8.3% in 1Q, with network costs rising by 10% despite the purported cost savings from the Gemini cooperation. Maersk has continued to slash freight rates to bolster volumes as average revenue dropped by 7% in the quarter.
Freight rates will continue to be tested in the next 2 months, with carriers’ ability to defend key support levels coming under question.
Johnson Leung
Transpacific volumes rally before higher tariffs kick in
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 Transpacific liftings already dropping in the last 2 weeks while freight rates to the US West Coast have slipped by more than 60% since 1 June.
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