Total 194 Posts
There were no SCFI and CCFI publication last week due to the Chinese holidays but the WCI, Platts and FBX showed transpacific rates are largely holding to their pre-holiday gains. Smaller carriers such as Zim and Yang Ming have carried over their lower rates on offer, along with Maersk who has continued to push out preferential rates on selected sailings but the majority of the carriers have not slashed their spot rates knowing it will not generate additional bookings during the post-holiday sl
The CoFIF end April forward contracts (EC2404) closed 4% higher on 19 February 2024 on lower trading volumes after the 11 day break for the Chinese New Year holidays. Although the latest SCFIS Asia-North Europe index dropped 3.5% compared to their pre-holiday levels to 3,246, it remains at a significant premium of current forward levels with EC2404 closing at 2,190. Traders are still digesting the impact of continued tensions in the Red Sea and the freight rates development over the last two we
Transpacific eastbound container volumes have rebounded by 16.9% in January 2024 and full year volumes are expected to record positive growth again after falling by 15.1% last year. Transpacific carriers have been able to take advantage of the strong cargo rebound with freight rates more than 200% higher compared to last year. The Top 3 carriers (COSCO, CMA CGM and Evergreen) have managed to retain their positions in January, and all 3 are members of the OCEAN Alliance who are poised to stren
Charter rates have continued to firm, Linerlytica’s charter rate index has risen by 27% since the Red Sea diversions started in mid-December and current rates are 65% higher than the 2019 average. Despite of bearish earning guidance in its annual report, Maersk has been particularly active in the charter market over the last 4 weeks and have accounted for up to 1/3 of recent fixtures as charter rates continued to firm up with activity continuing to be high heading into the Chinese New Year. Cha
Transpacific rates eased after 10 consecutive weekly gains that saw spot rates surge by over 200%. Rates to the West Coast dropped below $5,000/feu but are still holding at healthy levels compared to the $1,200-1,300/feu rates that were prevalent in the same period last year. Rates to the East Coast also dropped below $6,500/feu bit is also well above the $2,400-2,600/feu rates from last year. Capacity to both West Coast and East Coast will remain tight in March, with only smaller carriers li
Demand for vessels remain strong ahead of the Chinese New Year holidays with charter rates continuing to firm up across all size sectors. COSCO has been particularly active in recent weeks, with renewals on existing charters while taking on additional fixtures including a few deals for delivery taking place only in the 2nd half of 2024. COSCO renewed 2 sets of 8,000 teu and 9,000 teu units from Seamax and Costamare respectively on firm rates for 2 years and have been linked to 2 more deals for 6
Total containership capacity deployed on Asia to Europe routes have surged to a record high of 6.44m teu, up 23.3% compared to the same time last year. The surge is due entirely to diversion from the Suez to the Cape route since December 2023, with over 700,000 teu of additional capacity added to the trade in the last 2 months alone. 55% of the additional capacity has been absorbed in the FE-Med trades where transit times have increased by 10 days to the West Med and 18 days to the East Med whil
Transpacific freight rates defied market expectations with further rate hikes coming at the end of January after COSCO and MSC pushed ahead with their FAK rate increases from 1 February with the other carriers finally deciding to follow suit. Although some carriers have started to offer rate discounts on selected sailings in February, the increased FAK rates have raised overall market levels which will hold at least until the first week of February before a larger correction sets in after the C
Prices, turnover, and open interests across all forward Asia-North Europe CoFIF contracts fell last week, with the market still in steep backwardation as both spot and near-term contracts are priced higher than the longer dated contracts. The speculative activities have cooled in the CoFIF market as average turnover dropped by 38% WoW to reach a level lower than the open interests for the first time since CoFIF was launched in August 2023. In comparison, the futures’ turnovers in CME are usually
The CoFIF market went into steeper backwardation as the spot SCFIS went up 12% WoW while the CoFIF contracts were down about 4-6% WoW across the board. Liquidation of the Open Interest continued but on a slower pace than previous weeks. There are indications that rates are peaking as the market looks beyond the current tight market to the expected rate correction post-Chinese New year, with the SCFI registering its first drop last week after 8 consecutive weekly hikes. Spot freight rates compi