Container Shipping News

The double-digit spot rate hike on Asia-US this past week was due largely to the implementation of low-sulfur fuel surcharges. Carriers can take heart, for now, from their ability to make December’s interim LSFO surcharges stick as they prepare for permanent surcharges after the Jan. 1 implementation of IMO 2020.

The addition of Feedertech to the DP World portfolio of regional shortsea and feeder carriers enables the port operator to improve its control beyond the terminal.

Much of the attention in the run-up to IMO 2020 has been on the immediate impact of the mandate, but there are some longer-term considerations that warrant examination.

The Indian government is closely scrutinizing terminal handling charges -- perhaps the most controversial of all ancillary charges levied by carriers -- as they typically vary widely from terminal to terminal within a port and from port to port within a region.

An Arctic routing translates to 24-25 days of sailing versus a 34-35 day transit via the Suez. That provides an opportunity to not only profit from -- but also further contribute to -- global warming.

The extent to which US retailers rebuild their inventories post-Christmas will provide a hint as to how consumers will respond to mixed economic signals and higher prices on some Chinese goods.

Maersk is dealing with its second high-profile executive departure in just the past two weeks with the news CFO Carolina Dybeck Happe is leaving to take the same position with GE.

Carrier rankings in the eastbound trans-Pacific show no year-over-year change as container lines operate cautiously in a slow-growth market.

Zim, pointing to cost efficiencies gained through its partnership with the 2M Alliance, navigated a market rife with uncertainties to post slight Q3 increases in net profit and revenues.

Pacific International Lines is expanding its weekly Vietnam service to the US with the addition of a second call in Vietnam amid a double-digit jump in eastbound container volumes from the southeast Asian country.

Most major carriers and some freight forwarders have announced their own bunker adjustment factor (BAF) formulas to offset higher fuel costs, but there is little commonality in pricing or even what they are called.

The second straight weekly decline in spot rates in the eastbound Pacific seems to show that the peak shipping season was uneventful -- and that the 25 percent tariffs on $300 billion of imports from China due to go into effect Dec. 15 is having no significant impact on freight volumes.

Mediterranean Shipping Co. is bringing in ex-Maersk COO Soren Toft not because they’ve been unsuccessful, but rather because they know they need an outsider’s view to maintain that success as they enter their second half-century of existence.

The industry’s pivot to scrubbers is a gambit not just in that it hinges on high-sulfur bunker fuel prices staying significantly lower than low-sulfur fuels, but that regulators won’t further restrict scrubbers as environmentalists raise alarms.

Maersk continues to improve its profitability, helped by falling bunker prices and a greater focus on capacity management.

Declining imports from China are dragging down container volumes in the eastbound trans-Pacific, and if inventory levels remain higher than usual, a weak Lunar New Year month in January is possible.

Through a partnership with the software provider BlueX Trade, the Taiwan-based container carrier will allow shippers and non-vessel-operating common carriers (NVOCCs) to book space digitally “within minutes,” the companies said Tuesday.

While the imposition of tariffs on Chinese imports into the US has prompted some shippers to shift production to South Asia instead, the logistical and transportation shortcomings of the region are likely to limit growth in cargo headed for the United States.

The man leading the decarbonization charge at Maersk abruptly leaves the company, days before the world’s largest carrier will release its third-quarter earnings.

For the world’s largest container carrier, embarking on a radical departure from its traditional business model while simultaneously leading a historic quest to decarbonize shipping represents a level of risk-taking and ambition without equal in today’s industry.

Despite reporting a profitable second quarter, the Japanese container carrier has reduced its full-year earnings forecast by nearly one-third, citing concerns over a worsening global economic environment and an expected increase in bunker costs.

Even before Wednesday’s announcement canceling the Nov. 15 Apec meeting in Chile, footwear importers were warned their industry would continue to encounter a drumbeat of uncertainty and possibly higher duty rates.

Income gains from international routes operated by Cosco Shipping Lines and OOCL in the third quarter came despite the average China Containerized Freight Index falling 1.7 percent between July and September.

A seeming shift in philosophy among a number of key players in the container trade when it comes to orderbooks is about to change the competitive dynamics in the main deep-sea trades.

Spot rates on the eastbound Pacific stabilized as carriers prepare for a possible spike in imports from China next month ahead of the next round of tariffs scheduled to take effect Dec. 15 in US-China trade war.

Rates on Asia–Europe have edged upwards and volume on the trade continues to grow in an apparent contradiction of the gloomy trading environment.

Imports of household products from Asia increased just 0.6 percent through August because of US-China trade war. But with China’s dominant role in that sector and number two Vietnam at capacity, there will be no significant shift in sourcing away from China.

Forty-seven of the top 50 global transportation providers saw revenues rise in 2018, benefitting from a strong global economic growth and growing anticipation of reciprocal tariffs between the United States and China.

The prospects of a trade deal between China and the United States, which would remove the 25 percent tariffs on agricultural goods, are still murky. But some so-called goodwill purchases by the Chinese in bulk shipments following the freezing of an escalation of US tariffs earlier this month has raised hopes for a deal.

Impressive diversification of export markets in Europe, Southeast Asia, and South America has shielded US resin shippers from the worst effects of the trade war with China.

The International Maritime Organization’s low-sulfur fuel mandate will cause all-in container freight costs to rise next year, but there is a bigger bill coming in the form of decarbonization.

Downward rate pressure caused by overcapacity and the wide range of fuel surcharge levels carriers are presenting to cargo owners suggests that fuel cost will become a competitive battleground in the aftermath of IMO 2020.

A slight increase in eastbound trans-Pacific spot rates reflects final shipments that left China before Golden Week, but dozens of blank sailings already announced for October-November indicate carriers expect imports to be weak going forward.

US imports from China fell 9.3 percent in September, the fifth straight monthly decline. Coupled with 37 blank sailings for October and November, it appears peak season will end on a sour note.

The two-day "El Dorado" tech experience will address the growing need among beneficial cargo owners, third-party logistics providers, container lines, ports, and other freight transportation interests to understand the true value of technology and navigate an increasingly complex landscape of vendors and emerging technologies.

Although Typhoon Hagibis was the strongest storm to hit Japan in decades, carriers are reporting only minor disruptions to schedules and minimal damage to port infrastructure.

Carriers will blank at least 37 individual sailings this month and next and suspend an entire weekly service as they attempt to stop further erosion in freight rates in the eastbound Pacific.

The tariff war between the US and China has cooled significantly with news the two powers have reached a “very substantial” first phase of a trade deal.

Carriers would need complete control of the supply chain in order to successfully offer premium services, including time-definite delivery, an executive from Zim Integrated Shipping Services said.

India’s Ministry of Shipping has met with various stakeholders in recent weeks to review options for streamlining logistics costs, particularly where intermediaries make up a significant burden for cargo interests.