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
Transpacific freight rates recorded their largest ever one week jump as the impact of TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out) from the roll back of US tariffs has provided a windfall for the container market. The market surge has also spilled over into the charter market where vessel availability is very low and carriers are still seeking tonnage to take advantage of the large rate hikes. The legal challenge in the US to Trump’s tariffs has added further uncertainty to the transpacific traffic volumes
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
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
Asia-Europe freight rates weakened across the board, with carriers dropping rates to less than $1,600-$1,800/feu in April and early May. Cargo volumes are expected to drop in the next 2 weeks with Vietnam celebrating the 50th anniversary of its reunification on 30 April followed by the Labour Day holidays across Asia on 1 May. Port congestion remains very serious in Benelux, German and UK ports that have been made worse by the Easter holidays but this has not been sufficient to stop the rate de
Asia-Europe rates resumed their downward slide as carriers failed to protect the small gains they eked out earlier in April. The SCFI slipped by 2.9% on 18 April but the SCFIS released on 21 April showed a surprising rise of 7.6%. The gain is expected to be reversed next week as spot FAK rates have continued to drop as carriers prepare to shift capacity away from the Transpacific to other tradelanes including Asia-Europe. The only factor keeping capacity in check at the moment is port congestio
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
The SCFI rates for Asia-North Europe have edged up at the end of last week, rising marginally by 0.9% as carriers’ 1 April rate hike takes hold. However, market conviction remains low as carriers continued to slash their online spot rates to below $3,000 per FEU for April departures, underscoring the widening gulf between rate-hike announcements and market realities. SCFI rates to the Med continued to slip, dropping by 5.4% with no capacity discipline in display after MSC switched their 24k teu
The planned Asia-Europe general rate increase in March is falling flat with rampant rate cutting jeopardizing plans to raise rates to $4,000/feu. Maersk was again singled out for its aggressive price cuts, with rate offers below $3,000/feu being offered through the end of March. Despite its much touted 90% reliability target for the new Gemini Cooperation network, Maersk has evidently failed to convince its customers to pay a premium and had to resort to price cuts to fill its ships. Forward c