Container Shipping

Further downside risks to the U.S. economy make the odds of a rebound in containerized import volumes unlikely.

Bed Bath & Beyond got pummeled by the supply chain crisis. The company is now targeting shipping lines for allegedly compounding its woes.

The Europe-U.S. trade held up a lot longer than the Asia-U.S. trade, but trans-Atlantic premiums are now fading away.

Cargo flow fell slightly at ports in Houston and New Orleans in March but increased at the Port of Corpus Christi in South Texas.

As new container ships flood the market amid weak demand, Drewry expects low freight rates to persist through 2024.

Not to be outdone by CPKC, CN said it is partnering with Union Pacific and Grupo México to provide a new, cross-continent intermodal service that will seek more truck-to-rail conversions.

There is growing sentiment that higher trans-Pacific spot rates will not hold and prospects for shipping lines remain weak.

Executive Director Mario Cordero says the Port of Long Beach is “ready for a rebound in retail.”

SC Ports’ Inland Port Dillon handled record rail moves in March, although volumes for the port authority overall were down year over year.

“We are starting to see ocean carriers systematically take geopolitical risk into consideration,” says Xeneta’s Erik Devetak.

Jefferies’ Omar Nokta believes container shipping investors are starting to look toward “the end of the destock and beginning of the restock.”

Many industries are enjoying high profits from historic inflation. The furniture industry isn’t one of them. Thank the supply chain crisis.

Triton International entered an agreement to be acquired for $13.3 billion by Brookfield Infrastructure Partners.

“Simply put, there’s no bigger priority right now than this contract agreement,” says Gene Seroka of the Port of Los Angeles.

Although import volumes show signs of a nascent recovery, the inventory overhang remains daunting.

First-quarter numbers from container lines Cosco, OOCL and Evergreen show lingering upside from the tail end of the boom.

After labor unrest closed Los Angeles and Long Beach on Friday, ports on the East and Gulf coasts look even more attractive.

Worsening China-U.S. relations underscore how pivotal geopolitics has become to global shipping and trade.

American shipping magnate believed in efficiency and economies of scale in operating the world’s largest ships.

The Port of Virginia has plans to expand capacity at its inland port and at the Richmond Marine Terminal, while CSX has reached a sick leave agreement with another union group.

Despite a collapse in freight rates, container shipping is not behaving like an industry facing an imminent crisis.

The trend in container shipping is summed up by the adage, “The higher you climb, the further you have to fall.”

Surging costs after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could be a taste of things to come as shipping transitions to more expensive “green” fuels.

A fifth of U.S. containerized imports come from Europe. Shipping on this route remains much more expensive than it used to be.

Although February volumes at SC Ports were down 13% year over year, they still represented the second-highest total for the month in port history.

Flexport projects trans-Pacific contract rates will decline around 70% from 2022 levels but still be around 30% above current spot rates.

U.S. importers have forsaken their traditional gateway in Southern California. Many may be gone for good.

Quarterly net losses could be around the corner for container lines, but EBITDA will stay high even if carriers dip into the red.

The Georgia Ports Authority reported its second-busiest February ever.

Shipping line Zim could face net losses in the quarters ahead, yet it has a hefty cash cushion to soften the blow.

U.S. businesses overshot in 2022, importing way more than they needed. The hangover is in full swing, depressing 2023 imports.

Supply chain issues are in the rearview mirror for Fed inflation policy, but for importers, there’s still room for improvement.

Container lines are unable to prop up rates because they haven’t culled enough capacity to compensate for weak demand.

Shipping lines like Hapag-Lloyd have suffered sharp rate falls from the peak, but they’re nowhere near financial distress.

Kuehne + Nagel had a highly profitable year in 2022 despite macroeconomic headwinds, but results fell considerably in the fourth quarter along with transport demand.

Charter rates are far below the peak but higher than pre-COVID as liners continue to sign new container-ship leases.

The Port of Virginia says it’s nearly done with its channel deepening project, which will enable the port to allow for two-way traffic of ultra-large container vessels.

After a year of sanctions and “self sanctions,” shipping cargoes caught in the crossfire continue to find their way to buyers.

New Alphaliner data highlights the enormity of new container shipping capacity that’s poised for delivery.

Two container shipping experts give their take on how the hangover after the pandemic boom could play out.

Los Angeles continues to face a double whammy of sinking demand and fears over the port labor contract that expired in July.

The Georgia Ports Authority said a 16% drop in imports year over year “was fueled in part by reduced orders in retail and manufacturing.”

HMM acknowledged that “freight rates in most key trade lanes have been under downward pressure since H1 2022.”

Ocean carrier Zim will increase the frequency and size of ships used for its e-commerce Baltimore Express service.

Executive Director Mario Cordero said he is optimistic the Port of Long Beach will recapture market share.

Ocean carrier revenues fell sharply in the fourth quarter versus the third and continued sinking in January.

After a bounce in January, containerized imports could drop this month to the lowest level since May 2020.

Ocean carrier Maersk sees a rough second half of the year, when remaining support from contract rates “will disappear.”

The reversion in spot rates is pulling down contract rates, with a significantly delayed effect on ocean carrier earnings.

The 2M partnership between MSC and Maersk — which is breaking up — is the smallest of the three alliances. The Ocean Alliance is much larger.

ONE’s profit dropped by 50% quarter over quarter to $2.76 billion.

German ocean shipping company Hapag-Lloyd said its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization jumped by $7.6 billion year over year.

Container shipping rates from Europe to the U.S. are finally falling, but they’re still exceptionally high.

Speculation is swirling on how the end of a global container shipping alliance will affect ocean carriers and cargo shippers.

“Terminal and infrastructure investments are a crucial element of our strategic agenda and India is one of our key growth markets,” Hapag-Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen said.

Shipping services around the globe will be reconfigured after the top two carriers end their vessel-sharing agreement.

American imports remain a tale of two coasts, with continued strength in container volumes headed to Atlantic ports.

The 9,133,657 twenty-foot equivalent units the Port of Long Beach handled in 2022 were only 2.7% off the record-setting 2021.

South Carolina Ports moved nearly 2.8 million TEUs in 2022, the most in the state’s history.

Annual volumes at the Nova Scotia port exceeded 600,000 twenty-foot equivalent units for the first time in its history.

2023 was a banner year for the Port of Virginia, with annual volumes higher year over year as more traffic went to East Coast ports.

“It was a challenging year, but collaborative effort across Georgia’s supply chain ensured cargo movement remained fluid,” Executive Director Griff Lynch said.

FTR Transportation Intelligence expects a competitive truck market and port activity shift to put pressure on rail intermodal in 2023.

The railroads must work with other supply chain stakeholders and even consider sharing infrastructure in order to maintain an integral role within the broader freight transportation network, experts said at the Transportation Research Board’s annual meeting.

Imports continue to decline and are close to where they were before COVID-19, but the coastal mix is very different.

Remaining queues of waiting ships are dwindling, another sign that supply chain pressure is winding down.

The top 10 liner operators hiked aggregate capacity by 13% in 2000-22 and continue to control 85% of the global fleet.

Just as the pandemic wound down, another market-altering event for shipping — the Ukraine-Russia war — ramped up.

Container shipping lines are gradually getting their services back on schedule, but they still have a long way to go.

Trans-Pacific spot rates fell first. Trans-Atlantic spot rates and Asia-U.S. contract rates look like they’re next in line.

Backers of a shipping regulation that begins Jan. 1 believe it will reduce carbon emissions. Critics warn it could backfire and increase them.

By the start of the 1900s, about 40 U.S.-flag ships were operated by the country’s lumber titans, proving to the industry at the time that marine transport was more efficient than rail.

The U.S. could seek forfeiture of the MSC Gayane, a large ship involved in an infamous smuggling operation, says Bloomberg Businessweek.

Containerized imports to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have now fallen well below pre-COVID levels.

The Georgia Ports Authority last month handled 464,883 twenty-foot equivalent units, a decline of 6.2% from the 494,699 TEUs moved in November 2021.

November saw another double-digit drop in America’s containerized imports, driven by sinking volumes from Asia.

Shipping giant Maersk changes leadership as it transitions from a period of massive profits to one of challenging market conditions.

Faster easing of China’s COVID restrictions could provide eventual support for container and dry bulk markets and a more immediate boost for tankers.

The pilot of the Ever Forward could face civil charges as a result of the vessel being stuck in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay for more than a month.

GCT will sell its terminal operations in Staten Island, New York, and Bayonne, New Jersey, to shipping giant CMA CGM.

Declining ship fuel prices equate to savings for containerized cargo shippers and lower costs for tanker and bulker owners.

GPA will shift breakbulk cargo carried by Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean to the Port of Brunswick so that it can “optimize cargo movement” at both the ports at Brunswick and Savannah.

Spot shipping rates continue their historic slide, putting even more pressure on container lines’ contract business.

Hopes that China will relax its zero-COVID policy are fading, raising concerns about shipping volume fallout.

Southern California’s container-ship logjam ends as congestion eases at East and Gulf Coast ports.

Ocean carriers have been shielded by lucrative annual contracts with cargo shippers, but contract coverage is starting to crumble.

Ed Aldridge is retiring from CMA CGM America, and Uffe Ostergaard is leaving Hapag-Lloyd.

Earnings for Zim, the world’s 10th largest ocean carrier, peaked in the first quarter and continue to slide as rates fall.

The head of Los Angeles’ port is on a worldwide sales blitz, trying to convince shippers and carriers to come back.

Container volumes were up year over year in Savannah and Charleston, while crude oil exports set a record in Corpus Christi.

Drop in imports from China in recent months comes on the heels of years of gains by exporters in the rest of Asia.

Container shipping fundamentals are not as bad as spot rates imply, says the head of the world’s fifth-largest ocean carrier.

“Container demand is expected to be under downward pressure due to considerable uncertainties,” HMM said in its third-quarter earnings release.

Imports remain 7% higher than pre-pandemic levels, with volumes steadying last month after September’s plunge.

Flexport sees lower spot rates giving certain retailers a pricing advantage at the store.

Maersk’s guidance implies fourth-quarter earnings will plunge 39% compared to the third-quarter peak.

Most politicians are clueless about supply chains, so it’s a shame when industry veteran Mike Erickson runs for Congress and pins inflation on ocean carriers.

The world’s seventh-largest ocean carrier expects profits to fall, yet its projections remain vastly higher than pre-COVID levels.

Last week saw a number of updates on port infrastructure funding and terminal project statuses.

Maersk is a giant in the ocean shipping industry. It is also heavily investing to grow its all-cargo airline.