Markets/Trades

CMA CGM has sent the 17,859 teu CMA CGM BENJAMIN FRANKLIN on the FAL1/NEU4 service on an eastbound Suez passage, marking the first OCEAN Alliance FE-North Europe sailing to return to the Red Sea since 2024. The ship is scheduled to pass the Suez on 1 November and arrive at Port Klang on 13 November which is a week earlier compared to taking the longer route via the Cape of Good Hope. A second Suez passage eastbound is scheduled for the CMA CGM ZHENG HE a week later, although subsequent sailings

The long position holders also entered liquidation mode as the new quotations from the liners continue to disappoint with quotation for last week of October lowered to $1500 per FEU. EC2510, which is trading at 7% premium to the latest SCFIS, is testing the 1,100 level. The recent low of this contract was 1,050 on 19 September.

Futures traders in Shanghai maintain their risk-off mode—further liquidation by short sellers pushed prices higher. EC2510 dropped as diverging quotations among liners again cast doubt on the mid-October GRI. The new Chinese Port Dues targeting ships owned or controlled by US interests affect only 6 ships or 1.6% of the capacity currently deployed in the Far East to North Europe route.

Classical risk off rally today starting from the afternoon session: big price move but also a lot of liquidation. So most of the buy trades were just short covering. The news was China's big port due on US related vessels kick in today, which may force the carries to withdraw some capacity etc. What may have gone unnoticed in the market was the Maersk listed $1,800 per FEU for the 30 Oct i.e. the first week of November, which is even lower than the freight rates that it quoted for the shipments

There were more sell-offs today, but overall trading volume was lighter than yesterday but still showed better speculative interest comparing to what we have seen seen in the past month. Open interest rebounded above 70,000. SCFI-EUR jumped 10% after the market, reflecting liner quotations, though cracks remain apparent as several carriers have extended their current rates into the third week of October.

The SCFI and CCFI have slipped by 70% and 50% respectively since their 2024 peaks, but Linerlytica’s Charter Rate Index (CRI) has continued to rise throughout this period. The CRI to CCFI ratio has reached a record high of 318%, but charter rates and second hand prices show no signs of weakening as carriers continue to chase after tonnage in an early warning that capacity management remains elusive. The mid-October rate hikes are unlikely to succeed given the lack of capacity cuts even as the m

Futures traders in China returned from the week-long holiday to a sell-off triggered by peace news from the Middle East. However, near-term contracts proved resilient, with EC2512 dipping below 1,600 at its intraday low before rebounding to close just 1.8% lower, while EC2510 held firm, supported by liner efforts to raise rates for shipments departing from 15 October. Maersk and ONE posted freight rates below the industry average target of $2,000 for the second half of October, signaling early

Carriers are swapping ships out from the US as the USTR 301 port service fees for vessels built in China are set to take effect from 14 October. MSC, CMA CGM, ONE and Zim are amongst the carriers making last minute changes to their fleet deployments, with the vast majority of the non-Chinese operators able to avoid the USTR fees, barring a few exceptions with only 4 non-exempt ships scheduled to arrive in the US in the October window (3 operated by Zim and 1 operated by Hapag-Lloyd). The 2 Chine

Shanghai and Ningbo recorded their highest ever monthly container throughput in August, as global container volumes have remained resilient despite the gloomy trade and economic outlook. Total volumes at the 2 largest Chinese ports exceeded 5m teu and 4m teu respectively in the past month and continue to defy the impact of the US tariffs, with significant growth recorded on the Intra-Asia, Indian subcontinent, Latin America and Africa routes. In the first 7 months of 2025, container volumes han

The freight futures in Shanghai experienced a wild ride over the past two trading sessions, with a spike at the open yesterday followed by a retreat over the past two days, apparently finding a short-term bottom this afternoon. The spike yesterday was driven primarily by short covering, as open interest has hardly changed. Then Maersk offered $1,400 per FEU for shipments departing on the first week of October, which gave short sellers added conviction. The short sellers returned today and added