2006: Istanbul-based freight forwarder Advance International has made use of international agency plans to re-establish reliable landbridge routes between the two continents.
Carriers are “jacking up” spot rates to improve their negotiating hands with shippers as they agree pricing for IMO 2020 fuel bills and long-term Asia-Europe contracts.
Asia-Europe and Asia-U.S. spot freight rates jumped 12-30% last week, but can carriers hold on to the gains?
With spot container freight rates continuing to tumble, carriers are forecast to withdraw more capacity ahead of annual contract negotiations with shippers.
An influx of new container ships has hiked the average size of vessels deployed on the trans-Pacific and Asia-Europe trades, reports Alphaliner.
The introduction of new low-sulfur fuels, bearish demand and increased blanked sailings will bring more volatility to box markets in the coming months, says MSI.
The start of the box shipping slack season commences next week when Chinese factories close for the Golden Week holiday. Further spot rate losses are predicted by Alphaliner.
According to an MSI analyst, a key mainline container trade hardly bumped this summer – and the forward outlook for carriers is less than upbeat.
Carriers are set to withdraw more Asia-Europe sailings in Q4 as excess capacity drags on freight rates.
