Asia-Mediterranean Archives - The Loadstar

‘Desperate’ GRIs by carriers prop up Asia-Europe spot rates, for now

Gavin van Marle — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 13:39:54 +0000

Container shipping lines on the main east-west trades this week managed to reverse 15 weeks of consecutive declines in spot freight rates by managing to push through a general rate increase on ex-Asia loadings.
This week’s Drewry World Container Index (WCI) saw the spot rate on the Shanghai-Rotterdam leg rise 8% week on week, to $3,396 per 40ft, while the Shanghai-Genoa leg grew 11%, to $3,648 per 40ft.
One European forwarder told ...

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Carriers may have ‘overshot’ on capacity and will need to blank more sailings

Gavin van Marle — Fri, 25 Oct 2024 11:54:05 +0000

Container spot freight rates on the main export routes out of China continued to fall this week, with declines seen on both the transpacific and Asia-Europe trades.
The trend of declining spot freight rates was bucked, however, on the transatlantic, where Drewry’s World Container Index (WCI) recorded a 28% week-on-week increase, to $2,663 per 40ft, on its Rotterdam-New York leg.
And the backhaul New York-Rotterdam leg price rose 4%, to $761 per ...

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Surging transhipment cargo means SE Asia ports must cooperate, not compete

Gavin van Marle — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 12:53:48 +0000

The combination of challenges posed by the Red Sea crisis and an early peak season, particularly on the Asia-Europe trades, has changed the nature of competition for transhipment traffic among South-east Asian ports.
Traditionally, the battle for transhipment cargo in the region, a vital transit point in Asia-North Europe and Asia-Mediterranean trades, has traditionally been a three-way battle between Singapore, Port Klang and Tanjung Pelepas.
At times it has been fiercely competitive ...

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Spot rates ex-Asia still falling, despite USEC congestion, with more blanks

Gavin van Marle — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 12:34:26 +0000

Container spot freight rates on the main trades out of Asia continued to fall this week, as the resumption of operations at US east and Gulf coast ports eased industry congestion fears.
Nonetheless, the three-day stoppage by ILA members ensnared up to 70 vessels in the region, leaving an inevitable backlog that will take time to clear – estimates vary from “a matter of days” to “two or three weeks”, although ...

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Strike swell hits transatlantic rates – transpac shippers hold their breath

Gavin van Marle — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 12:11:33 +0000

The supply chain ripples from the US east and Gulf coast port strike have largely still to make themselves felt in global spot freight rates, according to this week’s indices.
Despite predictions that the transpacific eastbound headhaul trade might see a surge of demand into US west coast ports, the major spot rate indices saw freight rates decline on the trade: the Drewry World Container Index’s (WCI) Shanghai-Los Angeles leg declined ...

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Spot rates tread water – some calm before the ‘USEC storm’

Gavin van Marle — Fri, 27 Sep 2024 12:25:48 +0000

As the shipping world prepares for what could be a tumultuous period on the US east and Gulf coast from next week, there was little change this week in spot container freight pricing trends that have been place for the past month.
Spot container freight markets this week have been relatively subdued, determined by two factors: the continued slack demand across Europe following the end of its peak season; and North ...

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Spot rate decline slows, but prices for some long-term ocean contracts soar

Gavin van Marle — Fri, 20 Sep 2024 12:37:01 +0000

Spot container freight rates on the main east-west trades continued to fall this week, although the trajectory of the decline has begun to flatten, with the drops all in single digits.
The largest decline was seen on the Asia-North Europe trade: yesterday’s weekly World Container Index from Drewry saw its Shanghai-Rotterdam leg slump 9% week on week, to $4,682 per 40ft, although it still remains nearly 300% up on the same ...

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Ocean freight rates continue to tumble as peak comes to an early end

Gavin van Marle — Fri, 13 Sep 2024 12:21:42 +0000

Spot freight rates on every major container lane continued to tumble over the past week as demand remained flat, while a possible short-term pre-Golden Week upsurge has so far failed to materialise.
Golden Week begins on 1 October and the week-long public holiday sees work stop across the country – in previous years there has often been a spike in demand over the fortnight before it begins.
However, it would appear shippers ...

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New strings attached – shipping shapes up for 2025 with Premier Alliance launch

Gavin van Marle — Mon, 09 Sep 2024 12:29:44 +0000

The structure of the global container shipping alliance next year is set for a further shake-up after MSC unveiled its new standalone east-west service network and revealed it has concluded a vessel-sharing agreement (VSA) with THE Alliance, covering nine Asia-Europe services.
The pivot point is February 2025, when the 2M partnership of MSC and Maersk is set to disband, while at the same time Hapag-Lloyd will depart THE Alliance to form ...

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Asia-Europe spot rate decline quickens – ‘the market has turned’

Gavin van Marle — Fri, 06 Sep 2024 12:22:47 +0000

The steady decline of container spot freight rates between Asia and Europe turned decidedly steeper this week, with both the Asia-North Europe and Asia-Mediterranean trades witnessing double-digit declines.
Drewry’s World Container Index (WCI) saw its Shanghai-Rotterdam leg shed nearly $1,000 per 40ft this week, dropping 14% week on week, while Xeneta’s XSI Asia-Europe price fell 10%, to $6,843 per 40ft.
Meanwhile, the WCI Shanghai-Genoa leg saw spot rates decline 12%, to $5,842 ...

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