As the fallout from Ever Given cascades through container supply chains, it’s getting more difficult for Indian forwarders to secure shipping capacity. According to Rakesh Pandit, CEO of Conbox Logistics: “Not only are European shipments running late, but we’re seeing a lot of cancelled bookings placed in March from countries such as Italy,...
India’s container imports came roaring back to life in the fourth quarter, but booming demand out of China means there’s still a shortage of export containers. According to Maersk’s Q4 India trade report, container volumes grew 13.2% year on year, with exports “stabilising at a high level” and imports bouncing back 36.3%,...
Some container vessels have been sailing from Asia to Europe under-utilised in recent weeks due to an acute shortage of empty boxes. A carrier source told The Loadstar: “We have had to sail light a few times recently as there are just not enough boxes at depots [in China] to meet the demand.” All...
Container spot rates continued to climb on the Asia-Europe trades this week on the back of strong demand and extremely tight capacity, in terms of both vessel and equipment availability. Today’s Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI) published a rate of $1,508 per teu for Shanghai-North Europe, an increase of $262 per teu...
What a major shipping line called the “black swan” container shortage has hit intra-Asia trades as carriers prioritise transpacific profits. With some 30m teu carried each year, the intra-Asia tradelane is the largest in the world, comprising around 100 port pairs. Costs have traditionally been kept in check, there’s been less carrier consolidation...
Shippers around the world face huge supply chain challenges from port congestion and an acute shortage of containers. And one carrier source The Loadstar spoke to today said the problems “will get worse”. “There are so many pinch points building now and they will only get worse before the holiday season and may...
Today’s Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) shows a further 10.65-point gain in its comprehensive index to 1,448.87 – 71% higher than at the end of May. The huge increase over the past five months, in the midst of the pandemic, has been driven by substantial gains in container spot rates across both...
Despite the start of the traditional slack season – as China’s Golden Week holiday gets underway – there seems no easing of the demand spike from Asia to the US and Europe. And reports to The Loadstar suggest some factories in China are continuing production during the holiday to catch up with...
