Container lines

The Europe-East Coast South America trade is facing a bleak future with freight rates set to remain under constant pressure from shrinking container volumes, according to Drewry Maritime Research.

Hapag-Lloyd, the world's fifth-largest ocear carrier by capacity, today unveiled plans for an initial public offering before the end of the year that is set to raise around $500 million to help fund the acquisition of mega-ships and value the company at around 5 billion euros ($5.6 billion).

In a historic policy shift, Japan’s Abe government hopes to leverage the potential of free trade agreements to revitalize its medium- and long-term economic productivity and global competitiveness.

Freight rates in the eastbound Pacific trades lanes continued to decline this past week even though the trend in container volumes has been decidedly positive. With overcapacity a problem during this peak season, carriers are either unable to raise their rates, or choose not to do so because they fear they will lose business to competitors.

As if a huge surplus in capacity weren’t enough, container shipping in the troubled Asia-Europe and Asia-Mediterranean trades is moving into the slow third quarter with little chance of a rally in prices to ease the pain of weak freight rates.

India’s director general of shipping Deepak Shetty said that while the country is working to streamline its bureaucracy to facilitate maritime trade, the total removal of cabotage protections was out of the question.

Danaos Corporation has launched a joint venture called Gemini Shipholdings to acquire secondhand container ships in a bid to capitalize on depressed prices.

Maersk Line announced it is postponing by a month the implementation of the general rate increase it planned to apply Oct. 1 on the Mediterranean-India trade lane.

The Asia-Europe spot rate fell 31 percent over last week to its lowest level since mid-June, but the year-over-year comparisons are even more stunning and reflect a container trade being buried by excess capacity and flagging demand.

Cracks in a sill of one of the new Panama Canal locks is “likely” to risk a delay in the scheduled April 2016 opening of the new locks, a Panama Canal Authority executive told Reuters.

Crowley Maritime has signed a letter of intent to acquire SeaFreight Agencies, a Florida-based operator in the Caribbean and and South American trades in the latest example of consolidation in the region's container sector.

Matson learned years ago in its mainland to Hawaii service the importance of on-time performance, and it’s a lesson that has served the carrier well in operating its weekly express service from China to Long Beach.

The cascading of ever-larger ships from east-west liner routes to the north-south trades is the biggest problem confronting container shipping, according to an industry analyst.

Hapag-Lloyd announced it is upgrading its West Africa Express, or WSX, service by adding a direct westbound call at Durban, South Africa starting Oct. 17 with the arrival of the Busan Trader at the South African port.

Foreign shipping lines have expressed concern about a proposed Vietnam government decree that will require shipping companies to publicize their freight tariffs to protect exporters and importers.

Deteriorating market conditions on the Asia to Europe and South America trade lanes have seen NVOCCs focusing their efforts on the better performing Asia-U.S. trade, leading to intense competition on the long-haul routes.

The general rate increases and capacity cuts that have defined the Asia-Europe trade for most of 2015 seem to be making their way to the trans-Pacific as carriers try to cope with overcapacity.

Rolf Habben Jansen, speaking to the JOC Container Trade Europe Conference in Hamburg, cites scrapping and the Panama Canal expansion among the reasons for long-term optimism for operators.

Construction on the $50 billion Nicaragua Canal, which has been wracked by delays, will not begin until the first quarter of 2016 due to new environmental mitigation measures, according to a high-ranking government official.

China’s factory output contracted further in September, falling to its lowest level in more than six years as weak external demand continues to put the brakes on the country’s exports.

A coalition of truckers, cargo interests and trade organizations is preparing to ask the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission to restrict charges for late pickup or delivery of containers

Hapag-Lloyd’s October general rate increase and void sailings by CMA CGM in the same month suggest that carriers are failing to make rate increases stick on the oversupplied Asia-Europe route despite having issued more than 10 GRIs this year.

The greatest risk facing container lines in the intra-Asia trade is port infrastructure that will struggle to support growing volumes in the region, believes Tim Wickmann, chief executive of MCC Transport.

Taiwan may have to count on demand for new Apple products in the fourth quarter to boost exports that in August contracted for the fifth consecutive month, according to the island’s economic affairs ministry.

Ocean carriers will struggle to sustain the level of profitability achieved in the first half of the year as falling freight rates blunt the impact of lower fuel prices, according to Drewry Maritime Research.

Freight rates in the eastbound trans-Pacific showed mixed results this past week, with the Drewry and Shanghai spot rate indexes reporting slight rate increases on some routes and modest decreases on other routes.

Seaspan Corp. has signed an agreement with the Export-Import Bank of China for up to $1 billion in export credit facilities to support the purchase and construction of vessels from Chinese shipyards within the next three years.

Proposed shipping legislation moving through Australia’s Parliament would upend the nation’s cabotage law and clear the way for non-Australian carriers to enter the nation’s coastal trade.

Spot rates on the Asia-Europe and Mediterranean trades continued their downward spiral this week, even as container shipping lines wearily prepared to hit the market with the second general rate increase this month on Sept. 20.

Mediterranean Shipping Co. has acquired a 45 percent stake in the Trieste Marine Terminal as the 2M Alliance positions itself to capitalize on a European Union infrastructure initiative known as the TEN-T.

An educational trainee who worked his way up to head of customer service at Maersk Line South China will now lead operations at the North China division of the top global container line.

Hapag-Lloyd is reportedly aiming for a stock market listing in mid-November that could value the German ocean carrier at around 5 billion euros ($5.6 billion).

Household spending in the U.S. and European Union will revive flagging container shipping demand in the second half, a chief shipping analyst at BIMCO said.

The world’s container ship capacity has just broken through the 20 million 20-foot-equivalent units barrier after carriers set a new record for the shortest time to add one million TEUs to the fleet, according to Alphaliner.

China will pass the U.S. and become the world’s largest apparel market by 2019, according to a forecast by market researcher Euromonitor that compared the industry performance in the world’s two largest economies.

Russia’s economic downturn is largely responsible for a flat third quarter peak season on the Asia-North Europe trade, forcing ocean carriers to apply more permanent reductions in capacity, according to Drewry Maritime Research.

Amid shaky Brazilian business confidence, the country’s agriculture and livestock minister is trumpeting the near completion of dozens of contracts worth nearly $2 billion with importers in 14 countries.

Big container ships are necessary and here to stay, so marine terminals, ocean carriers and cargo interests must cooperate to ensure that logjams at ports, a Maersk Line executive said.

India’s global merchandise exports tumbled 20.7 percent year-over-year in August, the ninth straight month of declines, even as the Narendra Modi-led government continues to roll out new schemes to stimulate trade and economic growth.

Mundra International Container Terminal, a major gateway for India’s northwestern hinterlands, this week celebrated the first ship call of the Far East-Middle East, or FM3, service, a fixed-day, weekly intra-Asia loop by Maersk Line.