“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.
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.
Fees to register a business or file complaints at the Federal Maritime Commission will be significantly higher in 2023 to account for higher agency costs.
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.
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.
Charter rates are far below the peak but higher than pre-COVID as liners continue to sign new container-ship leases.
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.
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.
GoFreight, a startup freight shipping platform for small and midsized freight forwarders, recently raised $23 million in a Series A round.
The 2M partnership between MSC and Maersk — which is breaking up — is the smallest of the three alliances. The Ocean Alliance is much larger.
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.
Shipping services around the globe will be reconfigured after the top two carriers end their vessel-sharing agreement.
How big are the world’s largest ocean container ships?
American imports remain a tale of two coasts, with continued strength in container volumes headed to Atlantic ports.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Imports remain 7% higher than pre-pandemic levels, with volumes steadying last month after September’s plunge.
FreightWaves unveiled two new features in SONAR at the F3 event, and container spot rates from China dropped further.
Maersk’s guidance implies fourth-quarter earnings will plunge 39% compared to the third-quarter peak.
The world’s seventh-largest ocean carrier expects profits to fall, yet its projections remain vastly higher than pre-COVID levels.
Truckload volumes in Elizabeth, New Jersey, are still rising after a boost in imports last week, but that will likely change in the days ahead. Detroit’s volume boom went bust, bringing reactions to their lowest on record since 2018.
Spot rate indexes look like they’re stabilizing — at least temporarily — after double-digit plunges in August and September.
Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of ocean carrier Hapag-Lloyd, gives his take on the “bullwhip effect,” rates and global trade.
Shipping lines face a minefield of surging capacity and sinking demand, but there is a path to safety, claims one industry expert.
Southern California ports are being hit by double-digit import drops as the COVID-19 cargo boom winds down.
Dallas lost more market share by outbound volume this week as volumes continue to decline, and spot rates from China to the East and West coasts of the US dropped after a week of little to no change.
As container shipping stocks get battered by collapsing rates, tanker shares could be poised for a long bull run.
Declining imports have led to fewer container ships waiting off ports, injecting more capacity into the market, a negative for spot rates.
Supply chain planners will walk a precarious path in 2023, according to S&P Global transportation expert Paul Bingham.
New disclosures by Asian ocean carriers confirm that container shipping lines remain extraordinarily profitable.
Demand for Asian goods began dropping earlier this year. This is now having a delayed — and highly negative — effect on U.S. imports.
Measures of supply chain bottlenecks, cargo transit times, bookings and spot rates are all down, yet inflation remains historically high.
Supply-demand dynamics that supercharged pandemic-era rates are now “exactly the opposite,” says Maersk CEO Soren Skou.
Port officials and carriers prepare for hurricanes and other emergency situations year-round.
Inbound container volumes into the U.S. bode poorly for future trucking volumes. Trucking is the critical node for transporting goods, handling over 70% of freight in the U.S. at a given time.
East and Gulf coast ports handled more volume than ever before in August, pulling far ahead of West Coast rivals.
Container lines are pulling back fast from the ship-leasing market, signaling less confidence in future freight income.
Container shipping rates — particularly from Asia to the U.S. — are still falling hard and show no sign of finding a floor.
U.S. containerized imports are still near record highs, but not in Los Angeles, where they’ve fallen sharply.
Spot container rates for U.S.-bound cargoes are falling fast, yet import numbers at U.S. ports remain near their peak.
Shipping volumes are weakening in and out of China. Is this a temporary pullback or a sign of more serious trouble ahead?
Container and dry bulk shares soared last year, leaving tanker stocks behind. This pattern has now reversed.
California’s container-ship traffic jam is almost gone, replaced by stubbornly high backlogs off the East and Gulf coasts.
The cost of marine fuels is down sharply from the wartime peak, except for ‘clean’ LNG, which is getting even more expensive.
Spot rates on most global shipping routes continue to fall. The trans-Atlantic market is the exception: It’s holding firm near its high.
U.S. imports accelerated in July, with inbound cargo from China reaching a year-to-date high, according to Descartes.
With East Coast ship queues high, port executive Gene Seroka says: “For cargo owners looking to rechart their course, come to Los Angeles.”
Trans-Pacific spot container shipping rates continue to head lower. Zim appears more at risk than some of its rivals.
Federal regulators are considering a congestion emergency order to require carriers to share cargo data with shippers, railroads and trucks.
Hapag-Lloyd bookings point to a gradual unwind of the container shipping boom, not a crash.
Tankers stocks are doing great. Dry bulk and container stocks temporarily stopped the bleeding. “Maxim stocks” still underperform.
Port congestion and voyage cancellations by shipping lines are preventing a steeper slide in spot container freight rates.
Federal regulators are pressuring carriers at the Port of New York and New Jersey to compensate shippers and carriers for container storage.
Chinese military exercises in the Taiwan Strait will delay shipments. Further escalation could have dramatic supply chain effects.
Container shipping giant Maersk sees continued strength in U.S. imports and ongoing supply chain disruptions globally.
The drop in ships waiting off Southern California is deceiving. The number of ships off all three coasts is back to all-time highs.
Shipping lines are still racking up extraordinary profits. Hapag-Lloyd forecasts continued strength in the second half.
Last year was historically strong for some maritime businesses, terrible for others. No matter what the sector, maritime CEOs made millions.
America’s goods imports hit a capacity ceiling during the COVID-era boom. Volumes are still bouncing around near the top.
Container shipping spot rates continue to ease but are still many times higher than they were pre-pandemic.
