Trans-Pacific

Is Wall Street warming back up to containership line Zim?

For nearly two years, capital markets have punished Zim, the Israeli containership line whose fleet is the 10th-largest on the ocean. Zim’s model, which involves operating a subscale, highly chartered fleet of smaller vessels almost wholly exposed to the spot market, took a beating when collapsing spot rates collided with its high COVID-era lease expenses. The stock peaked at $84.50 per share on March 18, 2022, and took a series of nosedives before finally bottoming at $6.59 on Nov. 28, 2023.

Bu...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/is-wall-street-warming-back-up-to-containership-line-zim

West Coast shipping rates surge as Red Sea fallout goes global

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As Red Sea disruptions intensify, container shipping spot rates are rising on the other side of the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/west-coast-shipping-rates-surge-as-red-sea-fallout-goes-global

What downturn? US imports still rising, highest since boom

chart of imports volumes

American consumers just keep on spending — and the volume of containerized imports keeps on rising. October import numbers released Tuesday by Descartes came in exceptionally strong.

The U.S. imported 2,307,918 twenty-foot equivalent units of containerized goods last month, according to Descartes Systems Group (NASDAQ: DSGX), which obtains its data from customs filings. That’s up 3.9% year on year and 4.7% compared to September.  

(Chart: Descartes. Data: Descartes Datamyne)

Imports have surged...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/what-downturn-us-imports-still-rising-highest-since-boom

East Coast vs. West Coast: More imports shift back to Pacific ports

chart of spot rates to ports by coast

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In the perennial tug-of-war between West Coast and East Coast ports, the momentum has shifted yet...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/east-coast-vs-west-coast-more-imports-shift-back-to-pacific-ports

US container imports still rising, topping pre-COVID levels

There has been no shortage of doom and gloom about the “plunge” in U.S. imports this year. And yet, the numbers still don’t show anything to be particularly gloomy about.

U.S. imports have been rising month on month since February. They were up sequentially yet again in September, according to data released Tuesday by Descartes Systems Group (NASDAQ: DSGX).

Descartes said the U.S. imported 2,203,452 twenty-foot equivalent units in September. That’s up 0.3% versus August and up 27% from the low...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/us-container-imports-still-rising-topping-pre-covid-levels

Trouble ahead: Container shipping rates sinking further into the red

chart showing container shipping spot rates

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It’s not looking good for container shipping lines. Peak season is running out of whatever limited...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/trouble-ahead-container-shipping-rates-sinking-further-into-the-red

Rebound in trans-Pacific container shipping rates has stalled

chart of trans-Pacific spot shipping rates

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Container shipping spot rates in the Asia-U.S. trade have halted their ascent after rising double...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/rebound-in-trans-pacific-container-shipping-rates-has-stalled

Shipping line Zim bets big on spot market as losses mount

chart comparing Zim rates to other carriers

More bad news from Zim, the world’s 10th-largest container line operator and a major player in the Asia-U.S. East Coast trade: After slashing its full-year guidance in July, it reported much steeper second-quarter losses on Wednesday than analysts expected.

Israel-based Zim (NYSE: ZIM) posted a net loss of $213 million for Q2 2023, compared to net income of $1.34 billion in Q2 2022 and a net loss of $58 million in the first quarter of this year. The adjusted net loss of $1.37 per share in the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/shipping-line-zim-bets-big-on-spot-market-as-losses-mount

HMM hit by ‘intensified’ imbalance between supply and demand

South Korean ocean carrier HMM’s second-quarter net profit plunged 89% year over year.  

HMM provides little color in its earnings releases and reports in South Korean won. It reported Thursday that Q2 net profit was KRW 313 billion ($238 million), compared to KRW 2.9 trillion ($2.2 billion) in the second quarter of 2022.

Operating profit plummeted 95% year over year, from KRW 2.93 trillion ($2.2 billion) to KRW 160 billion ($121.8 million). Revenue dropped 58%, from KRW 5.03 trillion ($3.8...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/hmm-hit-by-intensified-imbalance-between-supply-and-demand

Asia-US spot rates top contract rates for first time since 2022

Shipping lines have been in the red in the trans-Pacific trades for months. They may have just inched back into the black again, courtesy of the rise in spot rates over the past five weeks.

Annual trans-Pacific contract rates reset to sharply lower levels in May. Even so, multiple ocean carrier execs insisted on conference calls that they did not sign annual contracts at levels that locked in a year’s worth of losses.

The problem for carriers in recent months: A portion of their trans-Pacific...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/trans-pacific-spot-shipping-rates-rise-above-contract-rates

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