Container lines

Container lines operating between the U.S. East and Gulf coasts and the west coast of South America have announced general rate increases for southbound shipments, despite flat volume through much of the year.

CMA CGM said it will temporarily suspend its Liberty Solo service, the smallest of the carrier’s four services between North Europe and the U.S. East Coast.

The outlook for Asia-Europe carriers gaining general rate increases of up to $1,000 per 20-foot equivalent units worsened after spot rates this week plummeted in the double-digits from the prior week.

Spot rates for shipping a container from China to the U.S. fell this week from the prior week, boding poorly for carriers’ general rate increase push next month and clouding the peak season outlook.

Mediterranean Shipping Co. is set to grow its fleet by 10 ships of more than 10,000 20-foot-equivalent units in the coming years.

Hapag-Lloyd is said to have fast forwarded preparations for an initial public offering to September and could list its shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange as early as October.

The expected merger of China Shipping and Cosco speaks not just to the increased pressure on container lines — even state-owned ones — to become profitable, but also the political and economic changes rippling through China.

Plummeting U.S. exports of recycled paper contributed to a 5.2 percent decline in overall U.S. exports during the first half of 2015, as lower-value commodities were hit by weak demand, a strong dollar and the lingering impact of West Coast port delays.

Singapore-based container carrier APL has introduced a new, dedicated intra-Asia service in another sign of the seemingly insatiable demand for services on the trade.

Ocean carrier on-time reliability fell across the three main East-West trades in July for the first time in six months, according to Drewry’s most recent Carrier Performance Insight report.

Zim Integrated Shipping Service swung to a net profit of $23 million in the second quarter from a $50 million loss a year ago as a multi-billion dollar restructuring continued to improve the Israeli ocean’s carrier’s bottom line.

The fleet of idle container ships over 500 twenty-foot-equivalent units rose to 149 on August 10 from 127 at the end of July and is set to increase in the coming weeks amid a weak peak shipping season and the rising number of blanked sailings on the Asia-Europe route, according to Alphaliner.

Several Asia-Europe container lines have announced Sept. 1 general rate increases of up to $1,000 per 20-foot-equivalent unit despite a persistently weak market that has undercut monthly GRIs all year.

The G6 Alliance Tuesday announced it is axing four more Asia-Europe sailings just days after Maersk and Mediterranean Shipping Co. said they will drop one of their joint services on the troubled route that is facing declining demand and slumping freight rates.

A modest spike in freight rates in the eastbound Pacific last week offers the first indication that the trade could experience a strong peak-shipping season — and the threat of marine terminal congestion.

Hapag-Lloyd is refusing to ship containerized hazardous cargo to and from Port of Tianjin after a shipment of dangerous chemicals handled by another carrier was blamed for deadly explosions at the 10th largest global container gateway last week.

Regional Container Lines of Thailand has managed to grind out a profit in the second quarter despite overcapacity, volatile spot rates and lower container volume.

Maersk Line expects the ailing Asia-Europe trade to improve in the second half of this year, as the devaluation of the Chinese currency boost exports and liners decrease capacity.

Mega-ships have come to dominate conversations in carrier boardrooms, halls of policy, and ports around the world as the industry contemplates and discusses the costs and benefits of these engineering marvels.

It will be roughly two weeks before U.S. ports can truly determine how much impact the explosions at Tianjin, the world’s tenth-busiest port, will have on traffic.

Shreyas Shipping and Logistics swung to a Rs. 16.52 crore (about $2.54 million) net profit in the first fiscal quarter, from a loss of Rs. 19.66 crore ($3 million) a year earlier, as India’s fast-growing short-sea ship operator acquired new ships and significantly expanded its service network.

More ocean carriers have announced emergency surcharges for Jawaharlal Nehru Port-bound cargo to offset extra costs caused by the week-long shutdown of APM Terminals’ Gateway Terminals India.

The Asia-Europe trade was carrier enemy number one this week as two of the world’s most profitable container lines blamed weaker revenues on the chronically underperforming route, and spot rates duly responded by tumbling a further 23 percent this week.

No decision on a block exemption for Hong Kong’s container shipping industry will be made before the new competition law comes into effect on December 14, leaving the container shipping industry in the bizarre position where its activity will be illegal from that date.

Containerized exports of poultry through U.S. ports plunged 20 percent during the first half of 2015 because of a multistate outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza.

Despite significant losses by its container carrying division, a buoyant tanker market coupled with cost-cutting measures to help Shipping Corporation of India post a whopping 230 percent profit increase in the April-June period from a year earlier to Rs. 163.54 crore (approximately $25.5 million).

Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Co. are axing one of their Asia-Europe services in the latest cutback by carriers on the troubled route that is facing lower traffic and tumbling freight rates.

Trading of the eight listed units of Cosco and China Shipping on the Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong Exchanges has been suspended all week in preparation of a joint announcement by the giant state-owned carriers that is widely expected to be news of a merger.

The expansion of the Suez Canal and the reduced draft for ships transiting the Panama Canal won’t immediately impact the rival waterways’ shares of Far East-U.S. East Coast traffic, according to Alphaliner.

China’s currency has now fallen 3.5 percent in two days after the central bank on Tuesday triggered the yuan’s greatest one-day decline in 20 years, and it is expected to fall further as the country struggles to reverse a sharp drop in trade recorded in July.

Container volumes on both the trans-Pacific and Asia-Europe trades in the first half of the year were buffeted by wild swings from month to month, according to data on the east-west shipping routes.

The Panama Canal Authority plans a temporary half-foot reduction in maximum drafts of ships passing through the waterway, and said an additional reduction may be ordered if rainfall stays below normal levels.

The trans-Atlantic bull-run has hit a glitch as a “huge” injection of capacity on the route since May has outpaced the growth in demand, “bringing a predictable outcome” for freight rates, Drewry Maritime Research said.

OOCL, the core liner business of Orient Overseas (International) Ltd, became the latest container carrier to report a first half net profit based largely on significant cost savings across its global network.

United Arab Shipping Co. has ordered another 3,500 reefer containers, after ordering 2,000 units from Japan’s Daikin Industries in January.

At a time when carriers complain that their industry has been commoditized, Matson’s ability to grab market share on the China to West Coast market at a time when many shippers are avoiding the West Coast shows some shippers are willing to pay higher rates for expedited service and reliable landside cargo handling.

The U.S. Maritime Administration is seeking public comment on proposed regulatory changes to implement recent statutory revisions in the Maritime Security Program, which subsidizes commercial operation of militarily useful U.S.-flag ships.

The Chinese government is prohibiting some port service charges and reducing the costs of others in an attempt to galvanize container shipping as the as the country’s container volume growth slows due to reduced global demand.

California’s export trade declined 4.2 percent in June, as weakness in key markets such as China, Japan, the European Union and Latin America and a strong dollar weighed down sales of manufactured and non-manufactured goods.