The EC contracts gapped down at the open but recovered throughout the day, with longer-dated contracts even closing in positive territory as traders believed MSC Lion's capacity reduction signaled discipline from the liners. However, Lion's capacity adjustment had already been reflected in the sailing schedule ten days prior, and our latest Deployment Watch (based on 22 Feb schedule data) suggests weekly capacity in March would still amount to 288k per week with smaller ships for the Lion servic
Wild swing for the main EC contract, EC2504, this morning going from being 3.8% up in first 30m minutes at market open to down 3.8% before recovering by lunch break. Overnight, CMA CGM dropped its online quotation to below $3,000 per FEU for all March shipments. Maersk released $2300 per FEU after lunch break that put the EC2504 decidedly in the negative territory for the day.
EC freight futures fell sharply on early week trading due to carriers’ aggressive price cuts and the SCFIS’ 11.2% drop published after market close will fuel further price weakness in the coming week. Capacity cuts in early February has translated to a sharp drop in the number of ships departing the Strait of Singapore last week to just 97,950 teu, against the 13-week average of 286,000 teu but will rebound over the coming weeks with March capacity at 288,000 teu. EC prices declined by 3-9% wee
Freight futures of Europe Contracts (EC) declined yesterday and today as Maersk and MSC reduced their quotations to $3,200-$3,940 per forty-foot equivalent unit (FEU) from $4,000-$4,340 for shipments departing in March12. The Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI) to be released after market today is expected to fall by 7-10%, as last week's rate of $1,608 per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU), or about $2,650 per FEU, remains significantly above current spot rates of around $2,200 per FEU
EC contracts continued to rally as traders anticipate a recovery in freight rates over the next two months, despite the liners' target of $4,000 per FEU by March 1 not being fully achievable. Half-day trading volume has already reached 86,000 lots, with open interest increasing by 7,000 lots. Weekly capacity departing from Singapore and Malaysia will hit a trough this week due to blank sailings. Utilization for the few vessels that recently departed Singapore and Malaysia has begun to drop, refl
The underlying SCFIS index slumped by 19% on 17 February, reversing last week’s unexpected gains. The forward curve has returned to contango for the first time since November 2024, as EC freight futures strengthened over the past week with rates expected to rebound over the March to September period. Trading activity was mainly focused on the principal EC freight futures contract for April 2025 (EC2504) which rose 10% as both MSC and Maersk joined other carriers in raising their quotations for
The EC futures contracts continued to decline, accompanied by slightly lower trading volume. Open interest also began to decrease. Overnight, HMM reduced its quotation for February shipments to $2,200 per FEU, down from $2,400 per FEU. Utilization edged up with two above trend line sailings.
The EC container freight futures dropped this morning on strong volume, as the relief rally from the previously bearish sentiment has completed. Traders will now need to see some level of success from the March 1 GRI to validate the 20-50% rally that occurred last week. Utilization for ships that departed this week remains at a decent level; however, the extremely light MSC VENICE has dragged down the moving average. Liners continue to reduce their online quotations overnight. CMA CMG join Hapa
EC freight futures surged following the Chinese New Year holidays, with April-December 2025 contracts rising by 20% to 53% in the shortened 4 day trading week. Average daily trading volumes and open interest positions both increased by 19% on strong trading interest sparked by the potential escalation of the conflict in the Middle East after the US proposal to take over Gaza was rejected by the majority of the Arab states. Several EC contracts hit their upper daily trading limits on 7 and 10 Fe
Container freight futures market re-opened after Chinese New Year holidays with a sell-off on average volume as traders taking stocks of the changes over the past week where both MSC and CMA CGM join Hapag-Lloyd, HMM, Maersk and ONE to offer sub $3000 per FEU freight rates for shipments embarking in second half of February. Vessel utilization over the past seven days received a boost from a last-minute rush and the blank sailings starting this week. However, this uptick is unlikely to be sustai