Total 351 Posts
Transpacific rates continue to fall sharply, with increasing pressure on carriers to lower their contract rate offers. The gap between current spot rates and asking rates for the new 1 May 2024 contracts remain very wide, with the majority of contracts still not concluded. After failing to push through the 15 March GRI, carriers are also facing similar resistance to the 1 April GRI of $1,000-2,000/feu with the low market conviction that the hikes will stick. Although Transpacific freight volume
CoFIF freight futures staged its first rebound since the end of 2023, with price, daily trading volumes and Open Interests rising in tandem. Last week’s buying interests in EC2404 for contracts expiring on 29 April were driven by both short covering and profit taking in response to the planned April rate hikes to Europe, with quoted rates already starting to tick up for the first time since January with various Asian carriers raising their spot rates from 3,000-3,100 per feu to $3,600 while the
Zim has confirmed the purchase of 5 ships of 8,400-10,000 teu ships in February that were previously chartered from NSC Schiffahrt by exercising a purchase option for a total consideration of $129m. It brings Zim’s total owned fleet to 14 units, compared to just one ship in 2020. Zim’s owned fleet comprises just 11% of its current operated fleet – still the lowest ratio of owned ships amongst the Top 12 carriers. The charter market continue to trend upwards with demand still strong across all s
Spot freight rates tumbled for the 6th consecutive week as the SCFI shed a further 6% last week with more cuts still to come. Carriers failed to push through a mid-March rate increase, with hopes for an April rate hike also fading quickly. Transpacific rates continue to fall sharply, with both the West Coast and East Coast rates tumbling by more than 6% last week. There is still room for rates to fall, with spot rates still 10-20% lower than the current SCFI assessments. Contract rate negotia
Asia-Europe futures CoFIF prices stayed broadly unchanged for the past week on flat trading volumes with spot SCFIS rates dropping further on 18 March to 2,437 points to close the gap with current EC2404 futures which closed at 1,826 points. International Energy Exchange (INE), the exchange where CoFIF contracts are being traded, announced new measures to spur trading volumes after market close on 18 March for EC2406-EC2412: (1) drop the margin requirement from 22% to 18%, meaning for every dol
The Red Sea disruptions continue to drive charter rates, with average charter rates rising by a further 3% last week with healthy gains across all size segments. The larger sizes continue to enjoy the biggest gains, with vessel availability failing to match demand. Activity in the panamax segment remains active, with last done rates rising above $25,000 for the first time in 9 months. The availability of ships larger than 5,000 teu remains very limited, with demand still uncovered which will c
Conflicting signals abound in a market looking for fresh directions, with freight rates continuing to slide as the SCFI dropped by 4.7% last week bringing the cumulative decline to 15.8% since its January peak. However, charter rates continue to firm while second hand vessel prices are still rising as demand for tonnage remains high. The recent freight rate correction has not deterred new entrants, with another Chinese carrier set to launch a transpacific service in March. Total containership
There is no fresh direction on the transpacific, with rates continuing to erode. Although the SCFI rates to the USWC held above $4,000 per feu, carriers are offering special rates that were as much as $500 lower than these FAK rates in order to secure additional volumes. The recent rate correction has weakened carriers’ bargaining position for the new service contract that will start from May 2024 with final contract rate levels expected at below $2,000/feu against benchmark rates of $1,200-1,6
CoFIF trading volume slumped to a new low of 10,101 lots last Friday (9 March 2024) as speculative sentiment cooled. Based on an estimated ratio of one lot to 10 teu, the reduced CoFIF daily trading volumes still amounts to 100,000 teu, which provides significant market liquidity that matches the daily turnover of the dry bulk FFA which has a longer trading history. However, CoFIF is digitally traded as opposed to dry bulk FFAs that trade over-the-counter. Open interest, an indicator of traders
The OCEAN Alliance partners (CMA CGM, COSCO, OOCL and Evergreen) have extended their 10 year cooperation agreement that started in April 2017 for 5 more years until 31 March 2032. The move will cement the group’s dominant position as the largest global carrier alliance, with a significant lead over their rival alliances on both the Transpacific and Asia-Europe routes. The move also leaves the remaining members of THE Alliance partners stranded as they will not be able to draw one of the OCEAN A