Total 170 Posts
Register Free Trial MSC’s ascension to the top of the container terminal operators table was as remarkable as its rise to the top containership operator rank and leaves little room for its rivals to catch up. The bold move by MSC and its consortium partners to acquire Hutchison Ports’ terminal assets ex China will widen MSC’s global footprint, with access to new hubs in Rotterdam, Felixstowe, Port Klang, Laem Chabang, Lazaro Cardenas, Balboa and Cristobal that will complement MSC’s existing ter
Register Free Trial Carriers are finally taking action to curb capacity increases in their bid to reverse the recent freight rate slide, with MSC confirming the withdrawal of the transpacific Mustang service while also redeploying its largest 24,000 teu ships from the Asia-North Europe to the Med and West Africa routes. The OCEAN Alliance has also delayed plans to launch a new Asia-North Europe string in March, with Premier Alliance also expected to postpone the launch of 2 Transpacific strings
Register Free Trial The proposed levy on Chinese ships calling at US ports could trigger moves to switch out Chinese built ships from US trades that would cause widespread disruptions over the coming months. Chinese carriers would be most affected by the levies and their potential exodus would create a void in the market as they account for 17% of US container imports from the Far East. These uncertainties add to the current challenges that carriers are facing, with freight rates continuing to
Register Free Trial Despite the geopolitical headwinds and rapidly falling freight rates, the container markets is getting some relief from the continued vessel diversions from the Red Sea and worsening port congestion that continues to build up in Europe. The European routes are expected to see a rate rebound in March, with freight futures back in contango as forward rates in the next 6 months are expected to rise above their current levels. But the momentum is weakening on the US routes as c
Register Free Trial Container freight futures have rallied sharply, with December 2025 contracts surging by 53% over the past week as hopes for an early return of containerships to the Suez route fade. Since the 19 January ceasefire agreement in Gaza, there has been no ships diverted back to the Suez route with all main carriers retaining their Cape routing at least until March. The potential return of the diverted Suez ships would release up to 7% of the global containership capacity with the
Register Free Trial The US will impose 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and an additional 10% from China from 4 February 2025, with no room for shippers to front load their cargo as only goods that are already in transit to the US before 1 February 2025 will be exempted. These moves will do little to reverse the worsening container trade imbalance in the US, with imports continuing to outpace exports by 2.4 times last year compared to 1.8 times in 2017 before import tariffs were in
Register Free Trial The main container carriers have shown no urgency to return to the Red Sea as the fragile truce in Gaza continues to show cracks which spurred a minor rally in the freight futures to Europe in the past week despite continued downward pressure in spot freight rates. The SCFI has slipped by 17% since the start of the year with further drops expected in February as carriers are still caught in the downward rate spiral ahead of the new Alliance network launch in February. The w
Register Free Trial The spectre of the Red Sea reopening following the ceasefire in Gaza weighs heavily on the containership sector, with up to 7% of the global fleet potentially coming back to market within the next 3 months. Freight rates have continued to tumble ahead of the Chinese New Year holidays with carriers still slashing rates while the SCFI recorded its first YoY drop last week, marking a tipping point for the market. EC freight futures continue to tumble with rates expected to drop
Register Free Trial Spot freight rates and container freight futures drifted further downwards last week, with the resolution of the ILA contract negotiations on the US East Coast removing the last catalyst for a rate rally before the Chinese New Year. The SCFI recorded its worst weekly performance since October, slipping by 8.6% last week with rates dropping across all tradelanes. Market sentiment has turned negative, with further rate cuts expected in the next 4 weeks. Freight futures are pr
Register Free Trial Market focus is shifting to the new Alliances’ services to be launched in February, when the currently buoyant container freight and charter market will be keenly tested. Freight futures to Europe have slumped in the past week with carriers already rolling back their recent rate gains even as forward rates are expected to fall continuously through the rest of 2025. The Transpacific market is moving in the opposite direction, with carriers able to secure an early January rate