ocean box shipping

Bulk booze by sea: Shipping wine in the time of COVID

wine

In the latest installment of the “Bulk booze by sea” series, FreightWaves looks at transoceanic wine shipping amid the pandemic. Previous installments featured the early days of alcohol transport via tankers and the modern-era shift to alcohol in containers.

Lockdowns, lost jobs, lost vacations, the threat of dying from COVID, rabid political partisanship … it can all drive one to drink. It is, in fact, driving a lot of people to drink a lot more than they drank before, according to Damien...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/bulk-booze-by-sea-shipping-wine-in-the-time-of-covid

Get ready for blowout Q3 results in container shipping

container ship

“We knew it was going to be good, but dadgum …,” exclaimed Stifel analyst Ben Nolan upon seeing the preliminary third-quarter 2020 results from Matson (NYSE: MATX).

Matson’s disclosures offer the first signals of how solid Q3 2020 earnings will be for container lines across the board. Container-line profits exceeded expectations in Q2 2020, a period when volumes were weak. In the third quarter, volumes and rates surged — and not just in the trans-Pacific trade.

“The stars are aligning for...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/get-ready-for-blowout-q3-results-in-container-shipping

Container rate records are shattered as US imports surge

container ship

Just how high can Asia-U.S. West Coast spot rates go? They blew past $3,000 per forty-foot equivalent unit (FEU) in early August and have been climbing ever since. They’ve just topped $3,700. Can they reach $4,000?

No one predicted that the container industry would be doing this well, this quickly.

“We’ve been scratching our heads a lot, trying to figure out why ocean freight prices have climbed so high,” commented Eytan Buchman, chief marketing officer of Freightos, on Wednesday.

The bullish view...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/container-rate-records-shattered-us-imports-surge

CMA CGM posts strong Q2 profits, predicts even stronger Q3

container ship

Another container-line quarterly report, another surprisingly big profit announcement in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Second-quarter results of France’s CMA CGM followed the same pattern as Maersk. Volume down, revenue down, costs down even more, so profits up.

On Friday, CMA CGM reported net income for the group of $136 million for the second quarter of 2020 (Q2 2020) versus a net loss of $109 million in Q2 2019.

Shipping division performance

CMA CGM’s container-shipping division...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/cma-cgm-posts-strong-q2-profits-predicts-stronger-q3

World’s largest container line triples profits despite COVID

container ship

The good news is that container shipping looks like it will weather the coronavirus crisis. The even better news is that COVID-19 has accelerated and solidified a new, more resilient business formula for the industry.

On Wednesday, the owner of the world’s largest container line, A.P. Moller-Maersk (APM, Copenhagen: MAERSK-B), posted stronger-than-expected results for the second quarter – the very time the coronavirus was peaking.

Maersk’s experiences during the outbreak confirm that liner...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/worlds-largest-container-line-triples-profits-despite-covid

Trans-Atlantic shipping sinks as trans-Pacific soars

container terminal

It’s a tale of two oceans for U.S. container imports. Freight rates for Asian exports crossing the Pacific are reaching new heights even as fleet capacity rebounds. Rates for boxes from Europe crossing the Atlantic are sliding even as more ships are pulled from service.

Prior to the coronavirus, the secular shipping pendulum was swinging toward the East Coast ports. Now, the pendulum is swinging back — at least temporarily. The West Coast is seizing a bigger share of U.S. imports in the COVID...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/trans-atlantic-shipping-sinks-as-trans-pacific-soars

Fresh threat to US food exports: China COVID inspections

Refrigerated containers

February’s coronavirus shutdown in Wuhan, China hit American food exports hard. Shippers transport perishable food in refrigerated containers called “reefers.” When unloaded, they must connect to electric power via “reefer plugs.” Reefer plugs at China ports filled up after the Wuhan outbreak.

Now, it’s happening again.

Reefer-plug capacity maxed out in February because China severely restricted trucking in the wake of the outbreak as ships continued to arrive and unload new reefers.

Today, the...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/fresh-threat-to-us-food-exports-china-covid-inspections

Are trans-Pacific carriers guilty of price gouging?

container ship

Spot rates in the trans-Pacific ocean trade continue to reach epic new heights, leading to talk of price gouging.

“Container lines have done well during the global pandemic, but are they profiteering from the crisis?” asked U.K.-based consultancy Drewry.

“Perversely, lines look set to make more money than they have in a long time,” it continued. The practice of “blanking” (canceling) sailings “has paid off handsomely.”

“From a public-relations perspective, the optics of making big profits during a...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/are-trans-pacific-carriers-guilty-of-price-gouging

Second-half container relief after second-quarter disaster?

container port

The coronavirus is a tough nut to crack for economic forecasters, and by extension, container-shipping forecasters. The rebound hinges on at least two colossal unknowns: the future rate of infections and how consumer behavior evolves.

The consensus, which may turn out to be wishful thinking, is that infections will slow and consumers will tentatively get back to their consumption in the second half. If so, container volumes would climb off their lows.

The new container-shipping forecast of...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/second-half-container-relief-after-second-quarter-disaster