As a harbinger of spectacular results from the liner industry for the final quarter of 2021, on the back of an 80% average rate increase and a new record for quarterly earnings, Maersk has again upgraded its full-year guidance. Based on preliminary results, the Danish shipping company said today it expected to...
Volume shippers offered new long-term fixed-rate contracts by container lines are, nevertheless, still keen to keep a foot in the door of the spot market. The extreme volatility of the spot market saw many shippers get their fingers badly burned over the past 18 months as rates were turbocharged by supply constraints...
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...
Evergreen and Yang Ming are not following the contractual stance of rival operators, including Maersk and Cosco which are locking-in customers to multi-year contracts The two Taiwanese carriers believe they should not bind their customers. Yang Ming president Patrick Tu said: “We have to consider customers’ wishes. They may think freight rates may not...
Any significant fall in container spot rates from Asia seems increasingly unlikely this side of February’s Chinese New Year, but thereafter the jury is out on the direction of the spot market. And this adds an element of risk for shippers signing up to new and expensive long-term contracts. However, the fear of...
Container freight indices are on the rise again, but even at their highly elevated levels they mask the true cost of shipping. For example, the Freightos Baltic Index (FBX) North European component jumped by 6% this week, to $7,791 per 40 ft – a huge 450% increase on the rate a year...
Container spot rates from Asia to North Europe are now 130% higher than at the start of the year, after a further spike this week. Today’s Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) recorded a 13.5% increase in its North Europe spot rate, to $2,374 per teu – however, in practice, market rates are...
