Total 209 Posts
Register Free Trial Hapag-Lloyd has agreed to pay $4.2Bn to acquire ZIM in the largest carrier consolidation move since 2017 when COSCO acquired OOCL. The deal will still require regulatory approvals and triggered a protest strike at Zim’s head office in Israel over the weekend. It comes as carriers’ ability to halt the rate slump will be tested again via another GRI push planned on 1 March despite the weaker cargo demand after the Chinese New Year holidays. The transpacific route is most at ri
Register Free Trial TEU-mile demand is trending higher YoY due to the later date of Chinese New Year this year, with the higher demand keeping charter rates elevated as carriers are still chasing tonnage even as profitability continues to deteriorate. Maersk reported an EBIT loss of -$153m for its Ocean Shipping business in the 4th quarter, dragging down the company’s consolidated net earnings to -$70m despite positive contributions from its logistics and terminal businesses. Hapag-Lloyd avoide
Register Free Trial Carriers earnings are back in the spotlight after ONE posted an operating loss in the 4th quarter of 2025. Freight rates have continued to slip ahead of the Chinese New Year holidays and the carriers’ ability to stop the rate slump will continue to be tested in the coming months. Although global TEU-mile demand remains resilient and currently stants at 6.5% above last year’s levels, there are doubts over the sustainability of current cargo growth outside of the US as well as
Register Free Trial The uncertainty surrounding the return of containerships from the Cape route continues to rile the market with freight futures rallying over the past week after CMA CGM signalled to its rivals against an early return to the Suez that could drag down freight rates that are already under downward pressure. The SCFI dropped by 7.4% last week with further declines expected ahead of the Chinese New Year as carriers eager to build cargo roll pools start to slash rates more aggress
Register Free Trial Trump’s Greenland tariffs would threaten the fragile balance on the Transatlantic container trades, with westbound rates from Europe to the US already down by 40% since the beginning of 2025. But carriers face a bigger challenge away from the Transatlantic arena as freight rates out of Asia are eroding despite earlier expectations of a market rally ahead of the Chinese New Year. The lack of capacity discipline continues to pull down freight rates with the SCFI shedding 4.4%
Register Free Trial The early market momentum have weakened after freight rates faltered last week, with sharp declines in rates to South America, Oceania and the Middle East. Rates from China to Mexico have recorded the sharpest declines after dropping by more than 65% since early September. Carriers are also rolling back the rate hikes on the Asia-Europe and transpacific routes following China’s decision to remove value added tax rebates from 1 April for several key export products including
Register Free Trial Developments in Venezuela over the weekend will have little impact on the container markets as total container throughput at Venezuela’s ports have dropped significantly since 2012 when it reached a peak of 1.57m TEU. Total volumes handled at Venezuela have dropped to less than 500,000 TEU per annum since 2019 and currently accounts for just 0.5% of total Latin American container volumes. The potential recovery in trade volumes post-Maduro will take several years to be reali
Register Free Trial Container freight rates enjoyed a mini year end rally with the SCFI rising by 6.7% in the last reading of 2025 while the CCFI increased by a more modest 2.0%. Despite the recent rate strength, average 4th quarter CCFI rates remain 10.7% lower than the 3rd quarter and the current quarter’s rates is at the lowest level in 2 years with carriers’ earnings already under pressure. CMA CGM has started to send their ships back o the Suez route as scheduled from last week on their e
Register Free Trial 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 w
Register Free Trial The containership orderbook has risen to 11.61m TEU, accounting for 34.8% of the current fleet on the back of a record number of ships ordered in 2025. The carriers’ appetite for new ships goes beyond their fleet renewal needs and raises the spectre of over-supply in the next 4 years. After failing to secure rate increases earlier this month, carriers are pushing ahead with another series of rate hikes in mid-December with mixed success. Although the SCFI surged by 7.8% las