Tag: freight rates

The Manila International Container Terminal, operated by International Container Terminal Services, continues to perform optimally as the company gears up for the peak season. This performance comes after the record volume and productivity with its first year-to-date two million TEU move last December.

Evergreen Line has teamed up with Alibaba.com, a wholesale marketplace for global trade under Alibaba Group, to provide site members with the option of booking sea freight services online with guaranteed space and prices. The Taiwanese company has also appointed Evergreen Logistics Corporation, as a provider of logistics solutions for Alibaba.com members opting for its sea freight services.

According to Drewry's latest edition of the Tanker Forecaster, recovery in the crude tanker shipping market is not expected until 2020, as weak trade growth and a bloated orderbook limit any rate recovery. But the timing of any market upturn will be heavily influenced by the level of scrapping.

iContainers announced that the value of all cross-border cargo movement between the US and its North American Free Trade Agreement partners, Canada and Mexico, fell 3.4% to $1.069 trillion. Of the five main freight transportation methods in the US, rail is the only one to register an increase (0.2%) in 2016.

MSI has issued a positive on the near-term outlook for Capesize spot earnings, partly driven by the latest data for Chinese steel and iron ore import demand. However this support is not expected to wane in Q2/Q3 and they are still mindful of large port stockpiles of iron ore and evidently more negative than the FFA market for June and September periods.

The Georgia Ports Authority recently announced that it showed double digit growth in total cargo in February 2017, moving 2.94 million tons across all docks – a 10 percent increase over February 2016, and second only to January’s 3.01 million tons.

According to Drewry, spot container freight rates from North Europe to China increased by 45% this week, reaching a four-year high. Specifically, the route from Rotterdam to Shanghai jumped to $1,076 per 40ft dry container from $740 last week.

Although rates have risen significantly from the historic lows of early 2016, giving battered ship owners some reprieve, Xeneta has forecasted further uncertainty for the global container shipping market in 2017.

The port of Antwerp will close 2016 with an expected record volume of more than 214 million tonnes of freight handled. The shipping container volume for its part has risen above 10 million TEU for the first time in the history of the port.

The latest Container Shipping Forecaster from Maritime Strategies International highlights the contrasting fortunes of liner operators and tonnage providers. The entire container shipping industry remains under significant pressure. Whilst freight rates have improved marginally from the extreme lows seen over the middle of the year, most liner companies are now at best breaking even, with weaker lines still probably in a loss-making position.