Carriers and shippers, however, believe there is little room left to fall for spot rates that are already below pre-pandemic levels.

The carrier has followed its peers with a sharp decline in earnings, and although still highly profitable, its CEO warned that rates on the east-west trade lanes are at unsustainable levels.

The move raises questions whether the carriers will seek new alliance partners, potentially setting off another round of musical chairs involving the other two networks, THE Alliance and the Ocean Alliance.

As consumer spending drags, retailers are having trouble trimming inventories, giving rise to a probable drop in European import volumes at least through the first quarter of the year.

Shipping’s transition to zero-carbon energy sources will be costly, but shippers are showing a growing willingness to pay to decarbonize their ocean transport supply chains.

The weakness in Asia’s air freight export markets continued through the traditionally strong month of November, with little prospect of an end-of-year boost in demand.

The trans-Atlantic is the “last trade standing” with rate levels still elevated, but that may soon change as carriers move ships from the rapidly weakening trades out of Asia to Europe-US routes.

Dockworkers at Felixstowe have agreed to pay deals covering this year and next, closing the door on a campaign of industrial action at the UK port that began over the summer.

MEPC79 delegates will also be considering a basket of measures that can integrate both technical and carbon pricing elements as the maritime industry transitions to more renewable fuels.

There are fires that will demand the immediate attention of new Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc, including quickly finding a way to meet long-term decarbonization targets.

A broad shift in China-Europe rail from the northern route through Russia to the middle corridor transiting Central Asia is unlocking new and largely untapped containerized markets for service providers.

The traditional increase in bookings for December and January shipments out of Asia is nowhere to be seen as importers in destination markets struggle with surplus stock levels and weakening demand.

Moving a significant share of Europe’s inland cargo from road to rail will be costly and challenging, but it is achievable through better utilization of door-to-door combined transport, a new report has found.

Dismal November air cargo data has all but assured a weak end to 2022 with no sign of a seasonal uplift in demand or rate levels from an oversupplied market.

Months of negotiations by Europe Union executive bodies over how shipping will be included in the Emissions Trading System have ended in agreement, with member states to have the final say in mid-December.

Sharply falling rates and demand signal an end to the extreme profitability enjoyed by carriers over the last two years, according to analysts.

The ability of ocean carriers to manage their growing supply of excess capacity is becoming weaker by the week as supply chain bottlenecks ease and global economic headwinds strengthen.

CMA CGM continued its run of extreme profitability in the third quarter, strengthening its already solid balance sheet and slashing debt levels, but it warned that economic headwinds are strengthening.

The expanding platform provided by shippers seeking green transport has allowed Maersk to ramp up its ocean sustainability efforts, with greening landside logistics the next target.

Forwarder Kuehne + Nagel is receiving new freighter capacity as global demand wanes and rate levels tumble through a non-existent peak season.

Europe’s executive bodies head into their final round of negotiations to set the parameters governing shipping’s inclusion in the regional Emissions Trading System with industry stakeholders watching closely.

Growing uncertainty over demand levels and falling rates is making longer-term traditional air freight block space agreements unattractive.

Developing green ocean trade lanes will become increasingly complex as the number of stakeholders increases and cooperation deepens across the value chain.

New energy ratings for ships to be imposed next year are a meaningful step toward decarbonizing the maritime industry and should not be a “box-ticking exercise,” according to Maersk.

Despite a record nine-month result, carrier Zim has downgraded its full-year guidance amid rate declines that are rapidly deepening of late.

A new production facility in South Dakota will supply Maersk with 100,000 tons of green methanol a year as the carrier signs yet another deal to lock in the supply of alternative fuels.

Soaring online orders for electronics and mobility devices are flooding the US postal services with undeclared lithium-ion batteries, posing a growing threat to the transport supply chain.

The global air cargo industry is flying into bracing headwinds, but airline CEOs remain largely positive that demand will return early next year.

The announced wage deal at Liverpool is welcome news after a series of strikes over the past three months severely disrupted container operations at the UK’s key west coast hub.

There appears to be little that ocean carriers can do to stem an Asia-Europe spot market in free-fall as economic conditions deteriorate and freight volumes continue to soften.

The availability of green fuels in sufficient quantities and at cost-competitive price levels remains the main challenge for the decarbonization of global shipping, says Maersk.

There is no sign of an air cargo peak season this year and few signals that 2023 will see any improvement as global economic conditions worsen.

Carriers are trying to work out the additional costs per container of complying with Europe’s ETS, but there is little clarity over how the rule will be applied with less than eight weeks to go before implementation.

Maersk reported a record Q3 result as shippers locked into long-term contracts continued to drive profitability for the carrier despite sharply declining volumes.

MSC has taken issue with the way the carbon intensity of ships will be calculated under a new IMO rule, which it says does not reflect container shipping’s operational realities.

Singapore-based carrier ONE expects to end its fiscal year with profits below the record earnings generated in FY2021 with no short-term improvement likely in container shipping markets.

Finding an alternative fuel whose production can be scaled up to meet the enormous demands of a wide range of industries makes it a daunting challenge, say industry experts.

The severe space constraints that drove container shipping rates to record levels over the past two years are over, easing shippers' reliance on long-term fixed rates.

Cosco’s acquisition of the stake in the Hamburg terminal was subject to approval by the German government, but significant resistance due to political sensitivities prolonged the process.

Volume and rates fell through the third quarter, but not enough to slow the highly elevated earnings reported by two of the world’s largest forwarders.