With capacity remaining extremely tight ahead of Chinese New Year, shippers are bracing for a further wave of rate increases on container trades out of Asia. The spot rate indices this week were virtually unchanged – the Freightos Baltic Index (FBX) Asia-North Europe component stable at $14,496 per 40ft, and its US...
Shippers are bracing for a further broadside of rate increases in June across multiple trades, as ocean carriers beef up profits ahead of the peak season. After a period of stability, following hikes of up to 200% in the second half of last year, transpacific carriers are rolling out a raft of...
Container spot rates are beginning to head upwards again across all trades from already elevated levels, as carriers reduce their commitment to contract volumes in favour of much higher FAK rates. The Freightos Baltic Index (FBX) China-North Europe component edged up to $7,316 per 40ft this week, and market reports to The...
There are reports of “sharp increases” in Asia-Europe container spot rates this week, as the fallout from the week-long Suez Canal blockage restricts both vessel and equipment capacity in Asia. Today’s Ningbo Containerized Freight Index (NCFI) North Europe and Mediterranean component jumped by 8.7%, almost matching the 8.6% increase on the Shanghai...
Maersk’s decision to “temporarily suspend” spot and short-term contract bookings from Asia following the Suez Canal blockage has left forwarders and NVOCCs scrambling for alternatives. The carrier said on Tuesday it estimated a loss of capacity across its network of up to 30% “over multiple weeks”, in addition to equipment shortages in...
The Suez Canal is set to resume operations today after the 20,388 teu Ever Given was re-floated overnight. While the vessel’s bow remained stuck on one side of the waterway this morning, the high spring tide this afternoon allowed salvors to re-float the entire ship and unblock the waterway after a week...
The 20,388 teu containership Ever Given has been freed after grounding against the seawall of the Suez Canal, and traffic on the waterway is expected to resume once the vessel is towed to an anchorage for inspection. An update at noon local time from GAC port news said that, according to information from...
Container spot rates from Asia to Europe remained virtually unchanged this week, despite softer demand, assisting carriers to lock-in shippers with huge contract rate hikes. On the transpacific, there was no let up in demand and BCOs are struggling to secure new deals with carriers. According to the Asia to North Europe component...
To improve schedule reliability, 2M partners Maersk and MSC are to avoid congested US west coast ports with two transpacific pendulum services. From this week, the AE1/Shogun and AE6/Lion loops from Asia will turn in North Europe instead of going on to the US. And to “facilitate the network adjustments”, the 2M said...
Container spot rates from Asia to Europe and Asia to the US eased back further this week from their record highs. Nevertheless they are expected to stay at very elevated levels for some time. According to today’s reading of the Freightos Baltic Index (FBX), the rate for a 40ft from Asia to North...
