Container lines

CMA CGM has joined other major liner operators in imposing congestion surcharges on inbound inland containers handled at the ports of Jawaharlal Nehru (Nhava Sheva) and Pipavav, India’s leading container hubs, to compensate for the extra costs caused by intermodal delays.

Canadian export growth is slated to rise to 4.7 percent this year and 7.7 percent in 2015, as global and particularly U.S. demand builds, non-energy shipments rise, and the Canadian dollar weakens, according to the Royal Bank of Canada.

While the melting polar ice cap presents opportunities for carriers to take cheaper and faster cross-Arctic shortcuts between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the chilly routes represent a dilemma for the marine insurance industry.

Spot rates in the trans-Pacific trade are holding steady as peak-season volumes continue to keep capacity tight on trips to the U.S. East and West Coasts.

Maersk Inc. has sold its U.S. headquarters building in Madison, New Jersey, for a reported $53.3 million and leased offices in nearby Florham Park, New Jersey.

Carriers’ strategy to bundle logistics services with container shipping services appears to be “unraveling,” according to Alphaliner’s latest newsletter.

CSAV has announced plans to introduce a new weekly service, the IMEX Sling 1, connecting the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and North Europe, starting in late October.

Middle East-based Simatech Shipping has announced the launch of a fortnightly feeder service linking Dakshin Bharat Gateway Terminal, a new private facility in India’s Port of Tuticorin (V.O. Chidambaranar), with Colombo, Sri Lanka, starting this month.

Cargo is being rolled and space allocations are being cut on trans-Pacific eastbound services as capacity continues to tighten to the U.S. East Coast. Space to the U.S. West Coast is also extremely tight, shippers say, reflected in stronger volumes moving through West Coast ports.

APL and OOCL have imposed surcharges on import containers bound for India’s northern hinterland region.

Protests will continue on the U.S. West Coast against Israel-based Zim Integrated Shipping Services, as new actions are scheduled in Seattle and Tacoma next week.

Another week of volatility in the spot market has brought container rates down over all of the major trade lanes, according to the latest readings of the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index.

CMA CGM, China Shipping Container Lines, Orient Overseas Container Lines and Pacific International Lines have plans to launch a joint service connecting Northeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

Neptune Pacific Lines, an ocean carrier specializing in the Australia/Oceania trade, has purchased Polynesian Shipping Line Limited, another carrier in the same market.

Carriers and other transport companies are doing their best to dispel fears of spreading the deadly Ebola virus as shipping continues between the virus-stricken countries of Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Guinea and the rest of the world.

CMA CGM, the world’s third-largest container line in deployed capacity, plans to make a port on a French island in the Indian Ocean into a transshipment hub to serve markets in Africa, the company said in a statement.

Simatech Shipping, X-Press Feeders and Orient Express Lines have expanded their joint ASX Service between India and the Middle East by adding a direct call at Adani Hazira Container Terminal, a private facility in western India.

Japan’s exports to the United States rose for the first time in three months in July on a year-on-year basis despite a sharp decline in auto shipments, according to preliminary trade figures released by Japan’s Finance Ministry.

The Port of Oakland was returning to normalcy Wednesday after four days of on-again, off-again demonstrations by anti-Israel protesters involving the Zim Piraeus container ship.

In reporting its second-quarter and first-half 2014 results this week, Maersk Line again showed how its financial fortunes are diverging from most of the rest of the container shipping industry.

The cost benefits of Evergreen Marine joining the CKYH Alliance were reflected in its second-quarter earnings, which saw the Taipei-based carrier returning to profitability.

Overall capacity operated by the Top 21 container carriers increased 5.6 percent or 847,000 TEUs in the last 12 months, according to industry analyst Alphaliner’s latest newsletter, furthering chronic overcapacity in the container shipping market.

Neptune Orient Lines said Wednesday media reports that it plans to sell its logistics business, APL Logistics, for up to $900 million are "preliminary and exploratory in nature.”

Taiwanese ocean carrier Yang Ming Line has upgraded its intra-Asia service network to better meet growing demand in the region.

Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Co. do not require regulatory approval from China for their proposed “2M” vessel sharing agreement on the east-west trades, Maersk Line said today.

The findings of a Chinese Ministry of Transport probe into rate filing by container lines and NVOCCs in the China-Japan market are expected to be released shortly. The case is being watched closely by foreign carriers to see whether China applies the same standard to its own carriers as it did to the erstwhile P3 Network.

Maersk Line reported a profit of $547 million for the second quarter as the container shipping division helped drive up the Maersk Group’s half-year earnings by 42 percent year-over-year.

Despite generally strengthening spot rates in the head-haul east-west trades, the trend is unlikely to last because underlying volatility is growing, especially in the Asia-Europe trade, according to SeaIntel.

Intra-Asia specialist Wan Hai Lines reported a 7.2 percent increase in container volumes in the first half of 2014, pushing revenue up nearly 10 percent as the shipping industry continues to feel the effects of increased demand.

United Arab Shipping Co. is moving its North American business unit, United Arab Agencies, from Cranford, New Jersey, to Atlanta.

India’s trade deficit in July rose to its highest level in a year as export growth weakened slightly after rising in the double digits for two consecutive months.

Even with sustained growth in volumes across all major trade lanes, Hapag-Lloyd’s loss widened in the first half of 2014, in large part because of falling and volatile freight rates.

Growing volumes to the U.S. East Coast caused by cargo diversions and peak-season demand have buoyed spot rates on the lane.

Shreyas Shipping and Logistics has introduced a fortnightly coastal container service between West India and South India, adding capacity on the trade route the Mumbai-based feeder line already serves with a weekly service.

Shipping Corp. of India has denied that it is planning to shutter its liner division, but did say it was reviewing the segment’s performance and eyeing ways to increase its profitability.

Containerized auto parts imports into the United States continued to trend upwards in the first half of 2014, in a market that has seen growth of over 10 percent in the past two years.

Big gains in the spot rates from Hong Kong to Los Angeles began to erode this week, as a benchmark of the rate to the U.S. West Coast dropped $100 per container.

Following up on an announcement last week by DP World that it is not accepting U.S.-bound rail cargo at its Vancouver, British Columbia, terminal, Hapag-Lloyd advised customers that two voyages this week will discharge containers at U.S. West Coast ports.

Shipping Corp. of India is considering withdrawing from the container business, which is loss making and subsidized by bulk and tankers, according to a report from Mint, an India-based financial news wire.