Maersk will make its first Suez transit on 22 December in 2 years with the 7,250 teu MAERSK SEBAROK on the Middle East-US East Coast MECL service. However Maersk stressed that it has not yet decided on a wider shift back to the Suez route. Apart from CMA CGM and Maersk, the other carriers have not made any moves to return to the Suez route and a full return is not expected take place until at least 3 months later.
Container cargo demand has remained resilient through 2025 with full year throughput growth exceeding 5.1% and global volumes handled at ports worldwide set to exceed 1 Bn TEU for the first time. Freight rates rebounded in mid-December on the back of strong year end demand but the rally remains tentative with TEU-mile demand growth still trailing behind supply growth although the gap has narrowed last week. New vessel orders added in the past week have raised the orderbook to 35.0% of the fleet as carriers continue their relentless chase for market share with charter rates remaining very firm.
Johnson Leung
Global container throughput set to breach 1 Billion TEU in 2025
Global container throughput is on course to exceed 1 Bn TEU for the first time in 2025 with continued expansion of container volumes in the 2nd half of the year despite US tariff tensions. Full year growth will exceed 5.1% driven by strong Chinese container exports outside of the US, with exports to Europe, Latin America, Africa and India/Middle East all powering ahead while the China-US trade decoupling also drove strong volumes growth in Southeast Asia. 2026 growth is expected to weaken to 2.1% due to uneven global demand amidst slowing cargo demand momentum.
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