Whither the peak season?

‘Abandoned’ exporters scrambling for space prompt more ad hoc charters

Asian exporters “abandoned” by Maersk are scrambling for deals with rival carriers, inspiring a fresh wave of ad hoc charters to North European ports for next month.
The “strategic transformation” of its ocean business, announced by Maersk earlier this year, has resulted in many smaller forwarders and NVOCCs finding that  after 1 January, the carrier will no longer accept their bookings – other than through the Maersk Spot platform.
But, with short-term …

The post ‘Abandoned’ exporters...

https://theloadstar.com/abandoned-exporters-scrambling-for-space-prompt-more-ad-hoc-charters/

Buoyant ocean carriers set to roll out peak season surcharges months early

Asia-North Europe container spot rates eased back slightly this week, as carriers ‘hoovered up’ stockpiled cargo accumulated before Chinese New Year.
However, rates from Asia to the US increased again.
Today’s reading of the Freightos Baltic Index (FBX) for a 40ft from Asia to North Europe was $8,308, compared with $8,430 a week ago, but for west Mediterranean ports, the FBX spot rate edged up $74, to $7,967 per 40ft.
The modest softening …

The post Buoyant ocean carriers set to roll out peak...

https://theloadstar.com/buoyant-ocean-carriers-set-to-roll-out-peak-season-surcharges-months-early/

Chinese New Year will mark the end of container sector’s ‘bull run’

As Christmas nears and shippers and their forwarders across Europe and North America continue to face a widespread shortage of containers, port congestion issues, reduced vessel capacity and soaring prices, the question on everyone’s lips is when the container industry’s current bull run will end.
The answer, according to new analysis by SeaIntelligence CEO Lar Jensen, on behalf of the Baltic Exchange, is most likely to be around February’s Chinese New …

The post Chinese New Year will mark the...

https://theloadstar.com/chinese-new-year-will-mark-the-end-of-container-sectors-bull-run/

Disruption and price rise alert to shippers as the peak season looms

Shippers – particularly those in e-commerce – have been advised to begin planning for potential supply chain disruption and rising prices as the peak season looms.
Speaking on Reuters webinar yesterday, on the upcoming peak season, Canada Post chief operating officer Charles Brewer warned that supply chains had undergone a transformation due to Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdowns which had had a  huge impact on retail supply chains – most notably …

The post Disruption and price rise alert to...

https://theloadstar.com/disruption-and-price-rise-alert-to-shippers-as-the-peak-season-looms/

Trade war ripples rock transpacific: first eastbound volume decline in ten years

The lack of developments on negotiations between China and the US on tariffs is expected to contribute to the first full-year decline in volumes on the headhaul eastbound transpacific trade since the global financial crisis.
The last time the trade saw volumes decline was in 2009, in the wake of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and when global port throughput fell by around 10%.
According to an Alphaliner forecast today, eastbound transpacific …

The post Trade war ripples rock transpacific: first...

https://theloadstar.com/trade-war-ripples-rock-transpacific-first-eastbound-volume-decline-in-ten-years/

Grim outlook for carriers: Drewry cuts box shipping growth forecast again 

The outlook for container shipping has deteriorated further in the past three months, resulting in another full-year growth downgrade by Drewry. 
This is especially unwelcome news for carriers which, over the next few quarters, face a fight for survival in the face of a steep jump in operating costs as a consequence of the IMO’s 0.5% sulphur cap on marine fuel that will become law on 1 January next year. 
The consultant said it now expected …

The post Grim outlook for carriers: Drewry cuts box...

https://theloadstar.com/grim-outlook-for-carriers-drewry-cuts-box-shipping-growth-forecast-again/

Ocean carriers forced to slash rates as peak season flops and Golden Week looms

Ocean carriers to Europe and the US have been forced to slash rates ahead of the Chinese Golden Week holiday next week, after the failure of vessel blanking programmes.
According to Alphaliner, carriers are already touting heavily discounted rates, of below $500 per teu for Europe and 40ft rates of less than $1,100 for the US west coast.
Container spot rates, as recorded by the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI), have fallen …

The post Ocean carriers forced to slash rates as peak season...

https://theloadstar.com/ocean-carriers-forced-to-slash-rates-as-peak-season-flops-and-golden-week-looms/

CMA CGM pulls another Asia-North Europe sailing as demand weakens further

CMA CGM has advised its customers that it will withdraw a further peak season headhaul Asia-North Europe voyage as demand continues to disappoint on the key tradelane.
In an advisory yesterday, the French carrier said it was voiding the sailing of its 13,892 teu APL Singapura, which was due to depart from Tianjin on 15 August and Shanghai on 24 August, “due to fluctuations between supply and demand” on the route.
The …

The post CMA CGM pulls another Asia-North Europe sailing as demand weakens...

https://theloadstar.com/cma-cgm-pulls-another-asia-north-europe-sailing-as-demand-weakens-further/

Panalpina warns of higher charges to come as first-half profit dips

Panalpina has blamed US-China trade tension and market uncertainty for lower first-half profits – and warned of rising charges for customers. 
Publishing a Q&A with its heads of air and ocean freight, Lucas Kuehner and Peder Winther, the company notes depressed markets in both modes. 
In air freight for the first half, Panalpina’s ebit was Sfr38.4m ($39m), from net forwarding revenues of Sfr1.5bn, down 28% and 2.5% year-on-year respectively. But Mr Kuehner said that the exceptionally …

The post P...

https://theloadstar.com/panalpina-warns-of-higher-prices-to-come-as-first-half-profit-dips/

Shippers bemoan liner capacity cuts this peak season

An interesting piece on LinkedIn from the JOC’s Greg Knowler. He points out that the 130,000 teu-worth of blanked sailings over July and August is causing something of a headache for shippers. They would like three to four months’ notice, and without that they will likely look for other, more reliable alternatives, such as China-Europe rail services. And carrier choice – which used to be a way to avoid the disruption …

The post Shippers bemoan liner capacity cuts this peak season appeared first...

https://theloadstar.com/shippers-bemoan-liner-capacity-cuts-this-peak-season/

+ More