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,
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
Carriers managed to retain the positive rate momentum to North Europe, with the SCFI rising by 10.6% while the SCFIS edged up by a further 4.6% after last week’s hefty 29.5% gain. The further delay in the return to the Suez route as a result of the rising tensions in the Middle East has helped raise sentiments with capacity utilization still holding up amidst elevated congestion at both Asian and European hub ports that have kept effective capacity lower in June. However, SCFI rates to the Med
Asia-Europe carriers continue to struggle to maintain an united front on their pricing, with the range of rates remaining wide going into the 2nd half of June. Maersk’s pricing remains highly erratic as it reversed its aggressive price cuts in early June with higher rates in the 2nd half of the month although its rate quotations remain lower than other carriers on the North European routes. Port congestion remains high across all North European main ports, but this has not resulted in any mater
Carriers pushed ahead with Asia-Europe rate hikes in June but the gains were lower than initially expected with the SCFI rates rising to $1,587/teu to North Europe, compared to initial plans to raise rates to $1,800-1,900/teu and $3,000-3,200/feu. Carriers have already started to undercut these rates with the Transpacific rate strength failing to spillover to the European routes. June rates are expected to roll back as attention shifts to the next round of rate hikes in July with CMA CGM announ
Asia-Europe rates are torn in 2 different directions, with the SCFIS declining by 1.4% on 26 May, while the forward looking SCFI recorded a strong gain of 14.1% on Friday. Carriers have stumbled on their bid to hike rates on 1 June, with Maersk once again undercutting their rivals even before the GRI was implemented. Rising congestion at European ports have severely disrupted schedules, with ships rerouting where possible to avoid berthing delays but this has failed to lift market momentum. Alt
Freight rates to North Europe remain under pressure, with the SCFI dropping by 3.3% last week while the SCFIS fell by 5.5%. Rates have remained under pressure since the US tariffs forced carriers to redeploy transpacific capacity to the European route since April but this is set to reverse in the next 3 months as US demand rebounds. Spot rates have dropped to a low as $1,600/FEU with carriers still under-cutting each other through the end of May. However, the situation is expected to reverse so
SCFI rates to North Europe dropped by 4.8% last week reflecting carriers rate actions over the last 2 weeks as market rates dropped to $1,600-$1,800/feu. The additional capacity shifted from the US routes has not helped the market, with volumes negatively affected by the Labour Day holidays in most parts of Asia. Port congestion across North Europe remains critical especially in Antwerp where a nationwide strike has halted port operations last week, with delays also impacting ports downstream.
Asia-Europe rates received a much needed boost with gains on both the North Europe and Med routes as carriers pushed ahead with the mid-April rate increase of $200-300/teu that is holding for now on improved capacity utilization rates. With Chinese volumes shifting away from the US in the weeks ahead, carriers are eyeing increased demand to Europe as well as to the other markets to provide some relief from the turmoil in the US, with the overall SCFI edging up by 0.1% at the end of last week.
The 1st April Asia-Europe rate hike flopped, with carriers failing to push through their announced rate increases with cargo demand showing no signs of strength. The SCFIS registered its 4th consecutive weekly decline with carriers more willing to slash rates than to cut capacity despite the deteriorating market conditions. Carriers are hoping that worsening port congestion at both Chinese and European & Mediterranean main ports could provide support for another attempt to hike rates, while car