Total 446 Posts
There is no improvement in the port congestion in North Europe, with waiting times at Rotterdam and Antwerp extended up to 7 days, while berthing at Hamburg and Bremerhaven are delayed up to 3 days. Barge delays also remain severe with waiting times of up to 3 days, which has exacerbated the severe yard congestion situation. Spot rates to North Europe continue to edge upwards on rising utilization which edged higher as weekly capacity remained steady at 300,000 TEU for a third consecutive week,
CMA CGM leads the list of carriers on the Suez/Red Sea route with 12 containership passages in June. Apart from regular passages on its Asia-Med Phoenician Express and Levant-Middle East Express services that have retained their Suez routing since last year, CMA CGM added 3 ad-hoc sailings last month, including the first of the Middle East-Med Express ships that will resume full Suez passages from the end of June. CMA CGM was the only main carrier to enjoy the Suez Canal Authority’s 15% discoun
The strength of the US container cargo demand remains very much in evidence, with preliminary import volume data for May and June showing imports from Asia declining by only 5.6% in the last 2 months despite the severe disruption from the Trump tariffs. Although imports from China dropped by 24% yoy, volumes from all other Asian origins recorded positive gains, led by Vietnam and Indonesia which grew by 34% and 33% respectively. The 20% tariff on Vietnamese imports announced last week will not
After a day of mark-to-market trading yesterday (8 July), futures participants retreated to the sidelines today (9 July), awaiting the next catalyst. Market consensus remains stubbornly bearish, with most expecting freight rates to decline. The principal concern among traders is not a sudden surge in rates, but rather that time may run out for a meaningful drop before the August contract expires. Both daily volume and open interest dropped sharply day to day today. Vessel utilisation continues
The freight futures market in China shifted from being strongly bearish at the beginning of last week to showing a clear lack of interest now. The recent uptick over the past few trading days was driven partly by reports of increasing port congestion in Europe, but was mainly the result of short sellers closing out their positions. Trading volume today dropped by 40,000 contracts for the first time since April 2024.
Congestion at North Continent main ports have worsened noticeably in the past week, with average waiting times at Rotterdam, Antwerp and Hamburg rising to over 2.5 days, with barge traffic also affected by recent low water conditions. Carriers are still pushing for a July Asia-North Europe rate hike with the SCFI recording a 10.6% increase last Friday while the SCFIS registered its 5th consecutive weekly gain with a larger than expected 9.6% jump on Monday. Scepticism remains on the carriers’ a
Benchmark contract EC2508 dropped 7%, with the bulk of the decline coming in the afternoon session. Open interest rose by 4,279 lots, pointing to heightened conviction among short sellers. This sharp fall stands in stark contrast to recent moves by shipping lines, which have lifted near-term freight rates for the first time in weeks. MSC, for example, reversed course overnight, increasing its quotation from $2,640 to $3,240 per FEU. The only bearish signal overnight was a drop in vessel utilisa
Maersk’s spot rate of $3,400 per FEU for shipments departing on July 3rd, published in the afternoon of June 17th, elicited only a muted response in the next day ( June 18th): the EC2508 contract rose by a modest 3%, amid considerable liquidation that pushed open interest below 90,000. This morning (June 19th), MSC went further by slashing its rate for June 30th departures to just $2,640 per FEU—even as it maintained a July FAK rate of $4,092 per FEU. The sharp cut for near-term shipments sent
Container vessel traffic in the Middle East remains unaffected by the escalation in the Israel-Iran conflict since 13 June with carriers maintaining their scheduled calls at Middle East Gulf and Israeli ports, while Suez transits have also been retained. Zim affirmed the continuation of its services to the Israeli ports of Ashdod and Haifa while CMA CGM is still proceeding to reroute 3 of their Europe-Indian subcontinent/Far East ships through the Suez this month despite the rising tensions. How
EC freight futures failed to retain the initial gains following Israel’s attack on Iran on 13 June with prices closing lower on 16 June as the market continues to assess the impact of the rising tensions in the Middle East. The prolonged closure of the Red Sea and higher fuel costs are expected to lead to keep freight rates elevated, the prospect of a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz could leave up to 3.4% of global container volumes stranded. Trading remained subdued throughout the past week a