The tariff increase has been put on hold while U.S.-China negotiations continue.
Container shipping
Drewry: Container Shipping Heading to a Better Tomorrow
Drewry: Degree of uncertainty in the container shipping industry is probably the highest in a decade.
Drewry: Foggy Outlook For Container Shipping, But A Brighter Tomorrow Still Likely
The container shipping industry is facing an exceptionally high level of uncertainty, ranging from the extra cost associated with IMO 2020 and how much carriers will recover from shippers, to the possibility of a trade recession and unknown future engagement by shipowners in large vessel building programmes, according to the recently published Container Forecaster from global shipping consultancy Drewry.
“The degree of uncertainty is probably the highest it has been in a decade,” said Simon...
Alphaliner: Tariffs Intensify US Container Imbalance
Alphaliner: Imbalance of US container imports over exports worsened despite protectionist trade policies.
https://worldmaritimenews.com/archives/272271/alphaliner-tariffs-intensify-us-container-imbalance/
With Brexit in Flux, Shippers Re-Route to Avoid Dover
By Irene García Pérez (Bloomberg) — As Theresa May mulls moves to stop the U.K. leaving the European Union without a deal next month, some businesses have already made plans to bypass the port of Dover in case a hard Brexit brings it to a standstill. The prospect of truck jams snarling Europe’s...
Hapag-Lloyd Operating Profit Rises 32 Percent
by Vera Eckert (Reuters) – Container shipping firm Hapag-Lloyd said volume growth and a modest recovery in freight rates in the second half of 2018 helped push operating profit 32 percent higher, lifting shares in the German group on Monday. Hapag-Lloyd said preliminary earnings showed operating...
Container Spot Rates Decline Sharply
By Mike Wackett (TheLoadstar) Both of the major east-west tradelanes recorded significant falls on today’s Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI), reflecting an increasingly soft demand environment. The Asia-Europe components of the SCFI saw container spot rates for North Europe decline 8.3%...
Maersk Shares Sink As Trade War Looms
by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen (Reuters) – The world’s largest container shipping company, A.P. Moller-Maersk, warned trade headwinds would slow growth this year, sending its shares down 10 percent on Thursday. Maersk is also moving ahead with spinning off Maersk Drilling, announcing it expected its...
BIMCO: Container Shipping May Face Bankruptcies if It Fails to Recover Extra Fuel Costs
A failure to recover the extra fuel costs in full may result in bankruptcies in the container shipping industry.
Elbe Deepening Turns Crucial as Port of Hamburg Throughput Falls
By Mike Wackett (The Loadstar) – Container throughput at the port of Hamburg declined for the second consecutive year in 2018. The port’s throughput was down to 8.73m teu, adding urgency to the completion of the long-awaited deepening and widening programme in the river Elbe. Although this...