Tag: freight rates

Freight rates are expected to rise Hapag-Lloyd expects the price war among global container shipping companies to end and freight rates to rise, not expecting a return to "satisfactory" results before the third quarter."We are seeing for the first time a clear upward trend," Chief Executive Michael Behrendt told journalists.Hapag-Lloyd, partly owned by TUI AG, will charge $412 more for a standard container from early April, he added."Satisfactory" results could be expected in the third quarter, Behrendt said.Margins in the shipping industry came under pressure last year when the two largest companies Maersk and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) undercut each other on freight rates. High fuel prices have squeezed margins further.Germany travel and tourism group TUI AG in February said it may try again to float its stake in Hapag-Lloyd as part of its bid to exit completely from the shipping business, after it failed to agree a full sale to the container shipper's other shareholder.Hapag CEO Behrendt said that reporting good results over two quarters was a precondition for trying to go public again after an IPO was called off last year."We have to show investors that we are back to normal," CEO Behrend said.Source: Reuters

Large container ships puts more pressure on freight rates Smaller vessel operators could be forced out of Asia-Europe container trade lanes as the deployment of ultra-large container ships puts more pressure on freight rates and the bottom line, according to one Hong Kong-based analyst.Janet Lewis, regional head of industrials and shipping research in Asia at Macquarie Capital Securities, said the influx of vessels of more than 10,000 20-foot equivalents onto Asia-Europe lanes was the prime cause of the rates collapse over the last nine months.Volumes have been relatively robust, so it would appear to be the fact that not enough capacity has been taken off to adjust for the arrival of the ULCSs, she said.Lewis warned some smaller lines could face financial difficulties because of the poor pricing outlook but said it was too early to say whether the situation will reach a point where we see failures as a result of financial distress.At the least we believe there will be a marginalization of smaller players who cant compete on the Asia-Europe route. Indeed it could be in their financial interests to withdraw from what will inevitably be an unprofitable route for operators of smaller vessels.Lewis predicted most carriers would ...