<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Starting Thursday, shippers will be able to complete their bookings and receive confirmation within seconds compared with previous waiting times of up to two hours, a delay that has created uncertainty and extra workload, as shippers followed up bookings with thousands of phone calls and emails.</div>

Starting Thursday, shippers will be able to complete their bookings and receive confirmation within seconds compared with previous waiting times of up to two hours, a delay that has created uncertainty and extra workload, as shippers followed up bookings with thousands of phone calls and emails.

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<div><a>Maersk Line</a> Thursday took a step closer towards its ambitious goal of becoming <a>an integrator of global container logistics</a> with the launch of an instant booking confirmation tool.Starting Thursday, shippers will be able to complete their bookings and receive confirmation within seconds compared with previous waiting times of up to two hours, a delay that has created uncertainty and extra workload as shippers followed up bookings with thousands of phone calls and emails.With the new solution, customers will have visibility of sailing options, available vessel space, a list of depots with empty containers to choose from, and a choice of...

Maersk Line Thursday took a step closer towards its ambitious goal of becoming an integrator of global container logistics with the launch of an instant booking confirmation tool. Starting Thursday, shippers will be able to complete their bookings and receive confirmation within seconds compared with previous waiting times of up to two hours, a delay that has created uncertainty and extra workload as shippers followed up bookings with thousands of phone calls and emails. With the new solution, customers will have visibility of sailing options, available vessel space, a list of depots with empty containers to choose from, and a choice of relevant value-adding services, as well as the certainty that a booking will not be canceled at a later stage. “When we go through the issues that customers contact us about, the biggest issues are around bookings,” said Sonny Dahl, head of customer experience and service at Maersk Line. “This can be customers saying ‘I didn’t get the vessel I wanted’, or ‘why have you not confirmed my booking yet,’ or they just send an email to ensure all is as it should be with the booking.” A good reason for follow-up calls Shippers with Maersk have had good reason to make their follow-up calls and emails. Through a lack of vessel space or equipment availability, around 10 percent of bookings placed in Maersk’s systems are either rejected or confirmed for an alternative sailing. Maersk estimates that the follow-up inquiries this generates account for 15 percent of all customer service calls and chats and close to 200,000 emails every month. So from Nov. 1, the new tool — also available as an app for mobile phone use — will offer the instant booking confirmation globally on all Maersk Line port-to-port routes for dry containers only. During the first quarter of 2019, the booking tool will be extended to cover reefers and door-to-door shipments using the logistics services within the Maersk Group. “It is very important for us, considering the strategy of becoming an integrated transport and logistics company, that we are also able to offer our value-added services via these bookings,” Dahl said. “It is not just the ocean booking that we have seen in the past, but we are also able to take on an inland move or a customs house brokerage, offering value-added services via the platform. That is an option that we have in the system, and the more sophisticated booking requirements for things like customs brokerage or insurance will come in the first quarter of 2019.” Also being added to the booking tool in the first quarter of next year is the ability for shippers to make amendments to their bookings. While ocean carriers have talked often about the need to digitize their businesses, from an operational perspective and a customer-facing one most carriers have not yet made the leap to offer e-commerce tools to engage new categories of customers, particularly in the small to medium-sized segments. The mandate to invest in such tools is pronounced as shippers now have more options than ever to engage in price discovery and instant transactions. Whereas carriers previously had only to consider freight forwarders, non-vessel-operating common carriers (NVOs), and other lines as competitive threats, now they must contend with the reality that shippers can access a range of rate tools to inform their procurement decisions. Among those tools are freight rate marketplaces (both neutral and curated); digital freight forwarders, whose business models often center around an easy-to-use quoting interface; and established freight forwarders that have launched their own instant quoting and booking platforms aligned to their NVO business. However, Dahl said the forwarders did not have the departure finder ability that would enable them to go in and seek out the available vessels. “They are super dependent on the shipping lines to be able to do that in the forwarding business. So as long as carriers cannot offer them an up-front check of whether bookings are available, then it is very difficult for them [forwarders] to do,” he said. Freightos CEO's observation Asked for his reaction to the Maersk Line booking solution, Zvi Schreiber, CEO of online freight marketplace Freightos , said live automated pricing, guaranteed capacity, and instant booking were absolute imperatives for advanced supply chains. “Over 40 percent of international shipments are based on spot quotes, making accurate, real-time shipment pricing critical,” he told JOC.com. “It’s equally important that prices are binding and that capacity is guaranteed.” Schreiber said research indicated that around a quarter of shipments do not make the first available sailing. “In other words, a shipper can easily wait two days for a quote, only to find that it is irrelevant because the ship is full and the price has changed.” Schreiber also covered the topic at the JOC Logistics Technology conference in Las Vegas earlier this week. “You would think with an ocean carrier, the most basic thing you, as a shipper, could do is speak with them electronically, get a price and book a container on a ship,” he said. It is an approach that is also used by the New York Shipping Exchange (NYSHEX) that provides contract reliability between carriers and shippers. Contracts secured via NYSHEX ensure that the shippers’ cargo will be loaded, and volume committed for shipment by BCOs will actually arrive, with penalties levied should the conditions agreed on not be met. Dahl likened the Maersk booking tool to the systems typically employed by the airline industry, a comparison that Schreiber has often made in the marketing of the Freightos services. “In every other industry you can book a hotel online, you can book a passenger seat online, but they haven’t had that up to now. It’s always been that even if you sent a request electronically, like with Inttra, it always took some hours and a human being to get you back a confirmation, and even then the price is subject to change," he told the JOC event. "So now, finally, some carriers are giving a binding price and a binding booking that the container is going to get on the ship and doing that electronically, and that’s been a long time coming but it’s finally happening.” Making an overall point about the industry, Schreiber said there was a realignment of players in the market and an increase in activity. "There is a lot more momentum in the past year or so that I have seen. Finally, we’re catching up. The change has started and it's gaining momentum." Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@ihsmarkit.com and follow him on Twitter: @greg_knowler .

Container lines

Maersk advances integrated strategy with instant booking tool

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Sources say sustained weak market fundamentals have caused this year to be atypical in terms of demand in the immediate run-up to Lunar New Year, which begins Feb. 17.</div>

Sources say sustained weak market fundamentals have caused this year to be atypical in terms of demand in the immediate run-up to Lunar New Year, which begins Feb. 17.

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<div class="phx-topic">Softer spot rates, weak volume forecasts and poor consumer sentiment spell one thing in the tariff-weary trans-Pacific container market: The traditional pre-Lunar New Year rush of cargo is not happening in 2026. Sources say sustained weak market fundamentals have caused this year to be atypical in terms of demand in the immediate run-up to Lunar New Year, which begins Feb. 17. Factories in China will close for at least a week for the holiday, which normally causes a freight surge of some magnitude before the doors shut. But not this year. “I would say demand is muted. There’s still uncertainty among retailers about tariffs,” an ocean carrier executive told the Journal of Commerce. “There has already been frontloading of spring merchandise.” To the extent there was any so-called rush at all, even in January, it is “clearly behind us,” said Peter Sand, chief analyst for the rate benchmarking platform Xeneta. “(This year) is another year where supply growth exceeds demand growth,” Sand said. Downward movement in spot rates before the Lunar New Year factory closures is largely the result of the weak demand from retailers and other importers. North Asia to US West Coast spot rates that started January at $2,075 per FEU were at $1,900 as of Tuesday, according to Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. Drewry had Shanghai-to-Los Angeles rates at $3,132 per FEU on Jan. 8, but those had fallen to $2,442 by month’s end. Shanghai-West Coast rates of $1,867 per FEU from the Shanghai Shipping Exchange as of Jan. 30 were down from $2,188 at the start of the month. According to all the indices, current spot rates are about 50% lower than they were a year ago. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="7f641553-97ec-4014-8e54-fef6408538d9"></dynamic-object></div>A forwarder who spoke with the Journal of Commerce noted that the lower listed spot rates this week are only part of the story. Carriers are continuing to offer discount rates, known as bullet or voyage-specific rates, that are as much as several hundred dollars lower than the posted spot/freight-all-kinds (FAK) rates. For example, some lines are offering bullet rates of $1,750 per FEU to the West Coast and $2,500 per FEU to the East Coast, and they are readily available to shippers. “It’s the bullet rates that are moving cargo,” the source said. That pricing structure would seem to indicate that retailers and other importers will have leverage entering annual service contract negotiations that are already underway and will pick up in intensity in early March following the Journal of Commerce’s TPM26 conference in Long Beach. <h3>Blank sailings accelerating </h3>Meanwhile, blank sailings, another demand barometer, are accelerating in February. Data from eeSea shows that carriers intend thus far to blank 206,835 TEUs of capacity this month on the Asia to West Coast trade, up from 107,318 TEUs in January. From Asia to the East and Gulf coasts, the blanks so far in February are at 96,881 TEUs, according to eeSea, up from 77,339 TEUs in January. ”Carriers are blanking extensively in the weeks commencing Feb. 23 and March 2 in classic response to the lower exports out of China as a result of the CNY festive days,” Xeneta’s Sand said. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="e5c8a2a0-9aa5-4787-bbed-bf4b7a9f9677"></dynamic-object></div>US retailers have already forecasted weaker cargo volumes over the next three months. Global Port Tracker, published monthly by the National Retail Federation (NRF), forecasts that US imports in February will be down 4.6% from the same month a year ago, with March imports down 12.6% and April down 8.1% from the year-ago months. US import volumes are also impacted by the confidence of consumers to spend. According to the Conference Board, a think tank, the consumer confidence index fell to 84.5 in January, well below market expectations and the lowest reading since May 2014. “Confidence collapsed in January as consumer concerns about both the present situation and expectations for the future deepened,” said Dana Peterson, chief economist at the Conference Board. Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at <a href="mailto:bill.mongelluzzo@spglobal.com">bill.mongelluzzo@spglobal.com.</a>Contact Mark Szakonyi at <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/mark.szakonyi@spglobal.com">mark.szakonyi@spglobal.com.</a></div>

Softer spot rates, weak volume forecasts and poor consumer sentiment spell one thing in the tariff-weary trans-Pacific container market: The traditional pre-Lunar New Year rush of cargo is not happening in 2026. Sources say sustained weak market fundamentals have caused this year to be atypical in terms of demand in the immediate run-up to Lunar New Year, which begins Feb. 17. Factories in China will close for at least a week for the holiday, which normally causes a freight surge of some magnitude before the doors shut. But not this year. “I would say demand is muted. There’s still uncertainty among retailers about tariffs,” an ocean carrier executive told the Journal of Commerce. “There has already been frontloading of spring merchandise.” To the extent there was any so-called rush at all, even in January, it is “clearly behind us,” said Peter Sand, chief analyst for the rate benchmarking platform Xeneta. “(This year) is another year where supply growth exceeds demand growth,” Sand said. Downward movement in spot rates before the Lunar New Year factory closures is largely the result of the weak demand from retailers and other importers. North Asia to US West Coast spot rates that started January at $2,075 per FEU were at $1,900 as of Tuesday, according to Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. Drewry had Shanghai-to-Los Angeles rates at $3,132 per FEU on Jan. 8, but those had fallen to $2,442 by month’s end. Shanghai-West Coast rates of $1,867 per FEU from the Shanghai Shipping Exchange as of Jan. 30 were down from $2,188 at the start of the month. According to all the indices, current spot rates are about 50% lower than they were a year ago. A forwarder who spoke with the Journal of Commerce noted that the lower listed spot rates this week are only part of the story. Carriers are continuing to offer discount rates, known as bullet or voyage-specific rates, that are as much as several hundred dollars lower than the posted spot/freight-all-kinds (FAK) rates. For example, some lines are offering bullet rates of $1,750 per FEU to the West Coast and $2,500 per FEU to the East Coast, and they are readily available to shippers. “It’s the bullet rates that are moving cargo,” the source said. That pricing structure would seem to indicate that retailers and other importers will have leverage entering annual service contract negotiations that are already underway and will pick up in intensity in early March following the Journal of Commerce’s TPM26 conference in Long Beach. Blank sailings accelerating Meanwhile, blank sailings, another demand barometer, are accelerating in February. Data from eeSea shows that carriers intend thus far to blank 206,835 TEUs of capacity this month on the Asia to West Coast trade, up from 107,318 TEUs in January. From Asia to the East and Gulf coasts, the blanks so far in February are at 96,881 TEUs, according to eeSea, up from 77,339 TEUs in January. ”Carriers are blanking extensively in the weeks commencing Feb. 23 and March 2 in classic response to the lower exports out of China as a result of the CNY festive days,” Xeneta’s Sand said. US retailers have already forecasted weaker cargo volumes over the next three months. Global Port Tracker, published monthly by the National Retail Federation (NRF), forecasts that US imports in February will be down 4.6% from the same month a year ago, with March imports down 12.6% and April down 8.1% from the year-ago months. US import volumes are also impacted by the confidence of consumers to spend. According to the Conference Board, a think tank, the consumer confidence index fell to 84.5 in January, well below market expectations and the lowest reading since May 2014. “Confidence collapsed in January as consumer concerns about both the present situation and expectations for the future deepened,” said Dana Peterson, chief economist at the Conference Board. Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at bill.mongelluzzo@spglobal.com. Contact Mark Szakonyi at  mark.szakonyi@spglobal.com.

Forwarding

Trans-Pacific

North American ports

Container Shipping News

Maritime

Tariffs claim another victim on the trans-Pac: the pre-CNY cargo surge

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Just days after last week’s storm shut terminals and disrupted shipping schedules, Maersk warned that weather in the region has “deteriorated beyond initial expectations.”</div>

Just days after last week’s storm shut terminals and disrupted shipping schedules, Maersk warned that weather in the region has “deteriorated beyond initial expectations.”

<div class="phx-topic">Severe Atlantic storms continue to batter the Bay of Biscay and Western Mediterranean, with container terminals in Morocco and southern Spain forced to shut for the second time in a week. CMA CGM has even announced an “emergency operational recovery” surcharge of $100 per container beginning Feb. 5 for all cargo to the port of Casablanca, which has been heavily impacted by the weather conditions. “Casablanca has been forced to close for almost half of the days in January — an unprecedented situation,” CMA CGM told customers in an advisory this week. “New closures have already been announced for February, driven by the same extreme swell and wind patterns that continue to make safe operations impossible.” Vessel crossings resumed through the Bay of Biscay on Saturday and Sunday and terminal operations were restarted, but Maersk warned customers in an advisory Wednesday that the weather in the region has now “deteriorated beyond initial expectations.” “This means that terminals are expected to close for longer than anticipated, and vessels will be leaving their berths for safety at the latest (Feb. 3),” the carrier said. “This unfortunately also means that vessel schedules will be further delayed, again impacting operations in the Western Mediterranean, Northern Europe and beyond.” The main transhipment terminals affected at the entrance to the Mediterranean are Tanger-Med in Morocco and Algeciras in Spain. A series of extreme winter storms have hammered Europe this year, bringing huge swells and gale force winds to the Western Mediterranean and <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/severe-winter-storm-disrupts-north-europe-port-inland-operations-6148334">freezing temperatures hampering terminal and yard operations</a> in North Europe ports. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>.    </div>

Severe Atlantic storms continue to batter the Bay of Biscay and Western Mediterranean, with container terminals in Morocco and southern Spain forced to shut for the second time in a week. CMA CGM has even announced an “emergency operational recovery” surcharge of $100 per container beginning Feb. 5 for all cargo to the port of Casablanca, which has been heavily impacted by the weather conditions. “Casablanca has been forced to close for almost half of the days in January — an unprecedented situation,” CMA CGM told customers in an advisory this week. “New closures have already been announced for February, driven by the same extreme swell and wind patterns that continue to make safe operations impossible.” Vessel crossings resumed through the Bay of Biscay on Saturday and Sunday and terminal operations were restarted, but Maersk warned customers in an advisory Wednesday that the weather in the region has now “deteriorated beyond initial expectations.” “This means that terminals are expected to close for longer than anticipated, and vessels will be leaving their berths for safety at the latest (Feb. 3),” the carrier said. “This unfortunately also means that vessel schedules will be further delayed, again impacting operations in the Western Mediterranean, Northern Europe and beyond.” The main transhipment terminals affected at the entrance to the Mediterranean are Tanger-Med in Morocco and Algeciras in Spain. A series of extreme winter storms have hammered Europe this year, bringing huge swells and gale force winds to the Western Mediterranean and freezing temperatures hampering terminal and yard operations in North Europe ports. Contact Greg Knowler at  greg.knowler@spglobal.com .    

Trans-Atlantic

Asia-Europe

Atlantic storms force terminals in Western Mediterranean to close again

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Charleston’s total rail lifts for 2025 were about one-quarter of the planned capacity of Navy Base Intermodal Facility, prompting the port’s CEO to reset capital spending plans. </div>

Charleston’s total rail lifts for 2025 were about one-quarter of the planned capacity of Navy Base Intermodal Facility, prompting the port’s CEO to reset capital spending plans.

<div class="phx-topic">The Port of Charleston has paused work on its near-dock rail yard pending agreements with Class I railroads to service the facility, the port’s chief executive said, adding that shipper demand for more intermodal capacity may not be needed until 2028. South Carolina Ports Authority Chief Executive Micah Mallace told state legislators last week Charleston has “slowed construction” of the Navy Base Intermodal Facility until it has finalized operating agreements with CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway. “We are working on delivering operating agreements with the railroads,” Mallace said. “We aspire to finish that quickly. Upon successful completion of that, we will restart our delivery of the facility.” The last major work on the facility involves 80,000 feet of southbound track that would link Navy Base directly to both CSX and NS trackage. Navy Base has northern access that connects to CSX trackage, but the southern access is a preferred route for both railroads. Under previous chief executive Barbara Melvin, the port expected to announce <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/charlestons-navy-base-rail-yard-project-faces-delays-big-cost-overruns-6070926">a construction award for the project last October</a>, but that award has been paused. Mallace, <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/sc-ports-taps-former-commercial-executive-to-lead-6092988">who took over as CEO that month</a>, has been <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/new-charleston-ceo-seeks-to-regain-container-growth-momentum-6104583">reevaluating the port’s capital spending plans</a> in light of slower growth in cargo demand. “SC Ports continues to work with our partners at CSX and Norfolk Southern to deliver additional rail capacity and enhance intermodal competitiveness to support growth in the Southeast market,” the port said in a statement to the Journal of Commerce. Mallace appeared before the South Carolina legislators to ask that some $2 million in state funding previously appropriated to SC Ports for joint development of a container terminal with the Georgia Port Authority on the South Carolina side of the Savannah River be redirected to a local economic development agency. The request stemmed from the GPA’s “wish to deliver capacity on the Georgia side of the river,” Mallace said. <h3>Navy Base start anticipated for 2028 </h3>SC Ports previously forecast a potential 2026 launch of Navy Base service with CSX and later adding NS access by 2027 once the southern access and other infrastructure was complete. While there’s no specific target for Navy Base’s full completion, Mallace said “we estimate needing to bring it on in 2028.” Intermodal cargo at the port is currently trucked to the CSX and NS intermodal facilities under Charleston’s “Rapid Rail” program. Navy Base allows the port to handle containers faster via a one-mile dedicated drayage road connected to the Leatherman marine terminal. Navy Base is designed to handle 1 million container lifts per year. It connects Charleston directly to its inland ports at Dillon and Greer, which are served respectively by CSX and NS, as well as other destinations in the Southeast. Dillon handled 48,761 container lifts last year, a 33% increase from 2024 largely due to a state initiative to reroute soybean shipments to export markets after the closure of a nearby processing facility, as well as demand from Dillon’s retailer shippers, according to SC Ports. Greer, which serves some of the state’s manufacturers and other retail distributors and can handle 300,000 lifts annually, saw roughly two-thirds of that at 197,805 container lifts last year, up 2% from a year earlier. Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto:michael.angell@spglobal.com">michael.angell@spglobal.com</a></div>

The Port of Charleston has paused work on its near-dock rail yard pending agreements with Class I railroads to service the facility, the port’s chief executive said, adding that shipper demand for more intermodal capacity may not be needed until 2028. South Carolina Ports Authority Chief Executive Micah Mallace told state legislators last week Charleston has “slowed construction” of the Navy Base Intermodal Facility until it has finalized operating agreements with CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway. “We are working on delivering operating agreements with the railroads,” Mallace said. “We aspire to finish that quickly. Upon successful completion of that, we will restart our delivery of the facility.” The last major work on the facility involves 80,000 feet of southbound track that would link Navy Base directly to both CSX and NS trackage. Navy Base has northern access that connects to CSX trackage, but the southern access is a preferred route for both railroads. Under previous chief executive Barbara Melvin, the port expected to announce a construction award for the project last October , but that award has been paused. Mallace, who took over as CEO that month , has been reevaluating the port’s capital spending plans in light of slower growth in cargo demand. “SC Ports continues to work with our partners at CSX and Norfolk Southern to deliver additional rail capacity and enhance intermodal competitiveness to support growth in the Southeast market,” the port said in a statement to the Journal of Commerce. Mallace appeared before the South Carolina legislators to ask that some $2 million in state funding previously appropriated to SC Ports for joint development of a container terminal with the Georgia Port Authority on the South Carolina side of the Savannah River be redirected to a local economic development agency. The request stemmed from the GPA’s “wish to deliver capacity on the Georgia side of the river,” Mallace said. Navy Base start anticipated for 2028 SC Ports previously forecast a potential 2026 launch of Navy Base service with CSX and later adding NS access by 2027 once the southern access and other infrastructure was complete. While there’s no specific target for Navy Base’s full completion, Mallace said “we estimate needing to bring it on in 2028.” Intermodal cargo at the port is currently trucked to the CSX and NS intermodal facilities under Charleston’s “Rapid Rail” program. Navy Base allows the port to handle containers faster via a one-mile dedicated drayage road connected to the Leatherman marine terminal. Navy Base is designed to handle 1 million container lifts per year. It connects Charleston directly to its inland ports at Dillon and Greer, which are served respectively by CSX and NS, as well as other destinations in the Southeast. Dillon handled 48,761 container lifts last year, a 33% increase from 2024 largely due to a state initiative to reroute soybean shipments to export markets after the closure of a nearby processing facility, as well as demand from Dillon’s retailer shippers, according to SC Ports. Greer, which serves some of the state’s manufacturers and other retail distributors and can handle 300,000 lifts annually, saw roughly two-thirds of that at 197,805 container lifts last year, up 2% from a year earlier. Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com

Port News

Port infrastructure

Marine terminals

Charleston slows railyard development amid insufficient shipper demand

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Absorbing its largest and most complex takeover to date was initially expected to take at least two years to complete, but will now be fully wrapped 20 months after the DB Schenker acquisition closed. </div>

Absorbing its largest and most complex takeover to date was initially expected to take at least two years to complete, but will now be fully wrapped 20 months after the DB Schenker acquisition closed.

<div class="phx-topic">DSV expects to complete its integration of DB Schenker by the end of the year, far earlier than expected, with the emphasis firmly on growing synergies within the combined entity and using artificial intelligence (AI) to transform the business, DSV executives said Wednesday. The integration process was initially expected to take at least two years to complete, but will now be fully wrapped 20 months after the Schenker acquisition closed. The full financial impact will be felt in 2027. “It is the largest and most complex transaction we have ever made, and that was reflected in our initial integration plans,” DSV CFO Michael Ebbe told the Journal of Commerce as the Denmark-based forwarder announced its 2025 results. “We started in August by onboarding countries and going live and in Q3 (and) Q4,” Ebbe said. “And the beginning of this year, we started to onboard complex large markets like China, Germany, Sweden and Singapore and now we have a plan for the next phase to finalize integration before year-end.” The contribution of DB Schenker in the fourth quarter significantly boosted DSV’s annual earnings and volumes. Revenue for 2025 was up 51.3% at $39 billion, gross profit rose 59% to $10 billion, and earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of $3.1 billion was up 23.8% from the year prior. Air freight volume of 2 million metric tons for 2025 was up 42%, while ocean freight of 3.7 million TEUs was up 38% year over year. Combined revenue for the air and sea division of $21.7 billion was up 35.6% compared to 2024. In the fourth quarter, despite the contribution of Schenker volume, the air and sea business faced headwinds in the form of geopolitical uncertainty, shifting trade flows and the impact of a weakening US dollar against the Danish krone. Air freight volume was up 63% in Q4 at 592,000 mt, but average gross profit per metric ton of $1,201 was down 8% year over year, mainly due to Schenker dilution. It was a similar picture in ocean freight. Volume was up 52% in Q4 at just over 1 million TEUs, while average gross profit of $601/TEU was down 17%. Synergies from the Schenker integration will reach almost $800 million this year and close to $1.5 billion in 2027. Total transaction and integration costs will be around $1.7 billion. <h3>Implementing AI at an enterprise level </h3>It was the focus on consolidating IT infrastructure and implementing AI at an enterprise level to improve productivity across the combined business that stood out in an earnings call with DSV executives Wednesday. Complexity has increased due to the Schenker acquisition, and DSV is consolidating and combining operations into selected systems across its air and sea, road, and contract logistics divisions, with AI playing an integral part of the digital operations. “When you introduce technology, you can do it on an enterprise level, a regional level, in clusters, countries, branches, departments, (or) on a person level,” DSV CEO Jens Lund told analysts on the earnings call. “But the further you go down into the stack, the less benefit you get of it. ”It has to be something that is done on enterprise level,” he added. “This is the only way we’ve managed to create value. This is also how you transform the business.” Lund pointed to a customs AI tool rolled out by DSV last year to improve the efficiency of customs handling, as well as an in-house “AI Factory” platform that was planning, forecasting and developing AI tools aimed at optimizing routes and processes. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

DSV expects to complete its integration of DB Schenker by the end of the year, far earlier than expected, with the emphasis firmly on growing synergies within the combined entity and using artificial intelligence (AI) to transform the business, DSV executives said Wednesday. The integration process was initially expected to take at least two years to complete, but will now be fully wrapped 20 months after the Schenker acquisition closed. The full financial impact will be felt in 2027. “It is the largest and most complex transaction we have ever made, and that was reflected in our initial integration plans,” DSV CFO Michael Ebbe told the Journal of Commerce as the Denmark-based forwarder announced its 2025 results. “We started in August by onboarding countries and going live and in Q3 (and) Q4,” Ebbe said. “And the beginning of this year, we started to onboard complex large markets like China, Germany, Sweden and Singapore and now we have a plan for the next phase to finalize integration before year-end.” The contribution of DB Schenker in the fourth quarter significantly boosted DSV’s annual earnings and volumes. Revenue for 2025 was up 51.3% at $39 billion, gross profit rose 59% to $10 billion, and earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of $3.1 billion was up 23.8% from the year prior. Air freight volume of 2 million metric tons for 2025 was up 42%, while ocean freight of 3.7 million TEUs was up 38% year over year. Combined revenue for the air and sea division of $21.7 billion was up 35.6% compared to 2024. In the fourth quarter, despite the contribution of Schenker volume, the air and sea business faced headwinds in the form of geopolitical uncertainty, shifting trade flows and the impact of a weakening US dollar against the Danish krone. Air freight volume was up 63% in Q4 at 592,000 mt, but average gross profit per metric ton of $1,201 was down 8% year over year, mainly due to Schenker dilution. It was a similar picture in ocean freight. Volume was up 52% in Q4 at just over 1 million TEUs, while average gross profit of $601/TEU was down 17%. Synergies from the Schenker integration will reach almost $800 million this year and close to $1.5 billion in 2027. Total transaction and integration costs will be around $1.7 billion. Implementing AI at an enterprise level It was the focus on consolidating IT infrastructure and implementing AI at an enterprise level to improve productivity across the combined business that stood out in an earnings call with DSV executives Wednesday. Complexity has increased due to the Schenker acquisition, and DSV is consolidating and combining operations into selected systems across its air and sea, road, and contract logistics divisions, with AI playing an integral part of the digital operations. “When you introduce technology, you can do it on an enterprise level, a regional level, in clusters, countries, branches, departments, (or) on a person level,” DSV CEO Jens Lund told analysts on the earnings call. “But the further you go down into the stack, the less benefit you get of it. ”It has to be something that is done on enterprise level,” he added. “This is the only way we’ve managed to create value. This is also how you transform the business.” Lund pointed to a customs AI tool rolled out by DSV last year to improve the efficiency of customs handling, as well as an in-house “AI Factory” platform that was planning, forecasting and developing AI tools aimed at optimizing routes and processes. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

Air Cargo Forwarder News

Air Cargo Carriers News

Air Cargo

DSV moves to transform its business as Schenker integration accelerates

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd are seeking a general rate increase of $1,000 per FEU starting March 1 to reverse a steady spot rate decline that began in July 2025.</div>

CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd are seeking a general rate increase of $1,000 per FEU starting March 1 to reverse a steady spot rate decline that began in July 2025.

<div class="phx-topic">Container lines are marshalling another rate hike on the Asia-to-Latin America trade amid rising volumes, but recent capacity injections into a market where spot rates have plummeted more than 80% over the past seven months offer a hard backstop to their efforts. CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd are seeking a general rate increase of $1,000 per FEU starting March 1 to reverse a steady spot rate decline that began in July 2025 when prices for Shanghai to Santos in Brazil were $6,374 per TEU, according to the Shanghai Shipping Exchange. Those rates are now at $1,131 per TEU, a decline of 82%. Container lines began adding more capacity to chase the higher rates; major carriers injected some 700,000 TEUs into the trade in the last 12 months, according to advisory firm MDS Transmodal. Capacity from Asia to the East Coast of South America is due to hit 303,517 TEUs in March, according to eeSea. That’s up almost 9% from February and would be the highest level in more than three years. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="3f037742-ccbd-42e6-a9c1-eef2aebad508"></dynamic-object></div>The capacity rush comes as CMA CGM announced its planned rate increase in an advisory Tuesday, following Hapag-Lloyd’s notice on Friday. Both carriers are again seeking a $1,000 per box across-the-board increase on all trades from Asia to Latin America, including the West and East coasts of South America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Hapag-Lloyd said the increase will apply to 20-foot, 40-foot and 40-foot non-operated reefers, while CMA CGM said its rate hike will also apply to out-of-gauge and paying empties. The two carriers announced similar $1,000 per-box rate increases at the end of last year. CMA CGM said in a Dec. 18 advisory the increase would apply from Jan. 1, while Hapag-Lloyd published a notice on Nov. 21 saying the revised rate would take effect from Dec. 1. But Brazilian forwarders questioned whether the carriers would be any more successful with their latest planned hike than they were previously. “The fundamentals haven’t really changed since then. Yes, demand has been strong, but there is significant overcapacity,” a senior executive at a Sao Paolo-based freight forwarder told the Journal of Commerce. “Our partners in China tell us shipping lines have struggled to fill their vessels. “Rates might pick up after the Lunar New Year festival period as demand rebounds, but we’ve been told there’s more capacity coming into the market,” the source added. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="69a20079-176d-4590-97c9-677559ec748f"></dynamic-object></div>CMA CGM did not give a comparison, but Hapag-Lloyd’s rate notices showed it had attempted to push its December GRI in a falling market. In its latest GRI announcement, Hapag-Lloyd said East Coast of South America base rates were now $1,000 per 20-foot container and $1,200 for a 40-foot box. By comparison, West Coast of South America base rates were down to $750 for both a 20-foot and 40-foot container, it said. Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global, pegged rates from North Asia to the West Coast of South America at $1,200 per FEU as of Feb. 2, down 60% year over year. A Hapag-Lloyd spokesperson did not comment specifically on the GRIs, cargo demand or capacity when contacted by the Journal of Commerce. “Not much I can say other than that we are continuously monitoring market developments, and rate adjustments on the back of changed supply and demand are a part of our day-to-day business,” the spokesperson said. Contact Keith Wallis at <a href="mailto:keithwallis@hotmail.com">keithwallis@hotmail.com</a>.</div>

Container lines are marshalling another rate hike on the Asia-to-Latin America trade amid rising volumes, but recent capacity injections into a market where spot rates have plummeted more than 80% over the past seven months offer a hard backstop to their efforts. CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd are seeking a general rate increase of $1,000 per FEU starting March 1 to reverse a steady spot rate decline that began in July 2025 when prices for Shanghai to Santos in Brazil were $6,374 per TEU, according to the Shanghai Shipping Exchange. Those rates are now at $1,131 per TEU, a decline of 82%. Container lines began adding more capacity to chase the higher rates; major carriers injected some 700,000 TEUs into the trade in the last 12 months, according to advisory firm MDS Transmodal. Capacity from Asia to the East Coast of South America is due to hit 303,517 TEUs in March, according to eeSea. That’s up almost 9% from February and would be the highest level in more than three years. The capacity rush comes as CMA CGM announced its planned rate increase in an advisory Tuesday, following Hapag-Lloyd’s notice on Friday. Both carriers are again seeking a $1,000 per box across-the-board increase on all trades from Asia to Latin America, including the West and East coasts of South America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Hapag-Lloyd said the increase will apply to 20-foot, 40-foot and 40-foot non-operated reefers, while CMA CGM said its rate hike will also apply to out-of-gauge and paying empties. The two carriers announced similar $1,000 per-box rate increases at the end of last year. CMA CGM said in a Dec. 18 advisory the increase would apply from Jan. 1, while Hapag-Lloyd published a notice on Nov. 21 saying the revised rate would take effect from Dec. 1. But Brazilian forwarders questioned whether the carriers would be any more successful with their latest planned hike than they were previously. “The fundamentals haven’t really changed since then. Yes, demand has been strong, but there is significant overcapacity,” a senior executive at a Sao Paolo-based freight forwarder told the Journal of Commerce. “Our partners in China tell us shipping lines have struggled to fill their vessels. “Rates might pick up after the Lunar New Year festival period as demand rebounds, but we’ve been told there’s more capacity coming into the market,” the source added. CMA CGM did not give a comparison, but Hapag-Lloyd’s rate notices showed it had attempted to push its December GRI in a falling market. In its latest GRI announcement, Hapag-Lloyd said East Coast of South America base rates were now $1,000 per 20-foot container and $1,200 for a 40-foot box. By comparison, West Coast of South America base rates were down to $750 for both a 20-foot and 40-foot container, it said. Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global, pegged rates from North Asia to the West Coast of South America at $1,200 per FEU as of Feb. 2, down 60% year over year. A Hapag-Lloyd spokesperson did not comment specifically on the GRIs, cargo demand or capacity when contacted by the Journal of Commerce. “Not much I can say other than that we are continuously monitoring market developments, and rate adjustments on the back of changed supply and demand are a part of our day-to-day business,” the spokesperson said. Contact Keith Wallis at keithwallis@hotmail.com .

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Carriers try new rate hike on Asia-Latin America, but fresh capacity provides headwind

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