EC2508, Shanghai’s benchmark freight futures contract, slid further in the afternoon session, closing at 1,949.5—dashing hopes that the market had found a floor at yesterday’s low - 1,987. The culprit, once again, was Maersk, which opened its FAK (Freight All Kinds) quotation for the second week of June at $2,100 per FEU. Yet, almost as soon as shippers began booking at that rate, the offer was abruptly raised to $2,231, rendering the initial price little more than a lure. With the Shanghai Con
Freight futures on the Shanghai–North Europe corridor continued their slide, with the benchmark EC2508 contract tumbling 13% week on week. Traders spent much of the period rolling short positions from the soon to expire EC2506 contracts into later maturities, wagering that any near-term firmness arising from the spill over from the Transpacific route would prove transitory as Far East to North Europe now commands the lowest rates among major routes. Average daily volume dropped 38% while open in
The freight futures contracts dropped this morning on profit taking with longer dated contract being weaker. Trading remain active as 105,043 contracts traded before the intermission for the morning session. Open interests remain at over 120,000 contracts. Liner's FAK quotations for Shanghai-WCNA mostly remain unchanged except for Maersk that again adjusted its quotations for May shipment upward, this time by $250/FEU to $3600 for 26 May departure. Last week's SCFI for USWC was $2347 per FEU. F
The main contracts, EC2506 and EC2508, nearly hit their limit up before moving sideways for the rest of the day. In contrast, the longer-dated contracts faced selling pressure, as traders used them to express skepticism about the sustainability of the current rally. The doubts center on whether Chinese factories are already operating at full capacity, potentially limiting their ability to increase output for US demand despite the 90-day window. Tianjin Shipping Index reported a slight drop in T
Shanghai–North Europe freight futures surged on 12 May with all contracts hitting their daily upper limit after the Sino-US trade deal was announced. Trading was brisk as volumes reached 158,000 contracts, almost double the average of the previous four days as both short covering and fresh buying lifted open interest to 104,000 contracts, up 19% from a week ago. The SCFIS fell a further 5.5% after market closed on 12 May, marking its 4th consecutive weekly drop but the forward curve is now pric
Shanghai–North Europe freight futures declined further in a shortened trading week due to the May Day holidays from 1 to 5 May. Open interest dropped by 8% week on week as traders liquidated their positions ahead of the holidays with the market outlook remaining negative. The value of the open EC contracts dropped to $829m as it closes in on the 18-month lows. Carriers continue to slash freight rates with capacity utilisation on the Far East–North Europe route remaining subdued as blank sailing
Shanghai–North Europe EC freight futures remain in retreat as carriers continued to lower their FAK rate quotations. Maersk and ONE have reduced their offers for early May shipments to $1,650 per FEU, with even lower rates offered by Maersk this week at $1,450 per FEU for mid-May shipments. These moves are expected to prompt further selling by futures traders over the coming week, even after the SCFIS dropped by 5.2% on 28 April. The EC2506 contract that expires in June now trades at a 3% disco
Freight futures to North Europe extended their recent losses over the past week, with the main EC2506 contract tumbling by a further 10%. Traders ramped up their short positions on expectations that capacity withdrawn from transpacific routes would soon be redeployed to Asia-Europe lanes. Average daily trading volumes tumbled by 31%, while open interest staged a modest 6% rebound week-on-week. The SCFIS index registered a surprise 7.6% weekly rise on 21 April, but the bounce is likely to be sho
Container freight futures continued their retreat after last week’s US tariff turmoil. Apart from EC2504 which expires in 2 weeks, prices for longer dated contracts fell by 7% to 14% over the week, driven by short sellers in heavy trading with average daily volumes rising by 59% week on week. The SCFIS edged lower by 1.4% to 1,402 points on 14 April but could see some marginal gains in the next 2 weeks from the planned mid-April rate hikes with EC2504 trading at a 6% premium. Although EC2506 ra
Container freight futures tumbled on 7 April as concerns over a potential global recession following Trump’s tariff announcement. Apart from the short dated EC2504, all the other EC contracts have declined by 10-15% since the tariffs were announced on 2 April. However, the sell-off was less dramatic than the 20% correction in liner equities over the same period. Trading volume surged to 120,000 lots on 7 April on heavy trading but open interests dropped by just 3% today, as the futures largely a