Container lines

The synchronized, regional recovery that’s boosted global container shipping has also ramped-up short-sea container volumes to the benefit of Europe’s feeder ship sector. Still, the good times are hardly problem-free and there are hurdles ahead.

Absent a profit motive, subsidized ocean carriers have at times been less rigorous in knowing and managing their costs and innovating. However, for several reasons, the subsidized model is not likely to end anytime soon.

Change, and technological change, is occurring in logistics, but the analysis that argues ocean carriers are trying to put logistics providers out of business is a stretch. The more likely scenario is more diverse — and one that will ultimately benefit the customer.

Port managers want to re-brand the locale in a new, distinct role, with an eye toward two key markets.

Is the decision by CMA CGM to take a 25 percent stake in CEVA the beginning of a wave in which ocean carriers seek to become one-stop shipper shops?

Beneficial cargo owners don’t know how to interpret a 21.8 percent increase to the West Coast and an 8.1 percent jump to the East Coast in spot rates this week. There are two, alternate theories regarding why this occurred.

All three carriers in Ocean Network Express highlighted the supply-demand balance as having an influence on container industry financials, with freight rates stronger than during the previous year but lower than expected.

Intel CEO Andrew Grove observed that the need for transformation could arise with the introduction of a different regulatory environment. Change is unavoidable, but strategic points of inflection are not always obvious in real-time. In the future, it’s likely that April 1, 2018 — the date electronic logging device enforcement “went live” — will be enshrined as a red-letter day for the industry.

The federal agency declined to elaborate on the identity of the beneficial cargo owners that issued these complaints or which ocean carriers received letters sent out on April 20.

The merged entity, Ocean Network Express, is reporting staff shortages at some locations as the three Japanese carriers are merged, which is causing customer problems.

It is no exaggeration to say that literally every container ship is a catastrophe waiting to happen, given how little carriers know about cargo loaded onto their ships, among other risk factors. But there has been little momentum to address the menace of container ship fires despite the fires killing crew members and causing tens of millions of dollars of cargo losses and supply chain disruption annually. Something needs to change.

Annual service contract negotiations between US importers from Asia and ocean carriers are moving slower than in past cycles. Beneficial cargo owners are holding out for lower rates, to offset rising supply chain costs elsewhere, but they may be disappointed by their efforts.

China’s decision to expand the ban comes after US exports fell 3.5 percent in the first two months of this year.

The port, which is in the competitive gateway in the trans-Pacific trade, has grown rapidly since the opening of its Fairview container terminal in 2007.

French line CMA CGM will buy a 25 percent share of logistics operator CEVA as the carrier tries to control more of its container supply chain.

The broad global economic expansion kept growth at China’s Top 20 ports in the first quarter on par with last year’s level.

The transportation giant this week inaugurated a new cold storage center within its container freight station site at Ponneri, on the outskirts of Chennai in South India.

There are good reasons why participants at the 3rd Annual JOC Gulf Shipping Conference in Houston this week are bullish on US Gulf ports: the region’s growth is outpacing other US coasts, Asian import growth is promising, and the potential exists for Gulf ports to funnel a rebound in Latin American trade. Those are three legitimate growth engines and the resin boom has not even begun yet.

The decline in US exports took place even before trade war rhetoric between the United States and China began to heat up.

The annual blanket of fog has been wreaking havoc at the busy ports of Shanghai and Ningbo.

There is no stopping the decline in the Asia-North Europe spot rate, which is now at its lowest level in more than a year. With the market deep in the slow season and capacity still coming online, shippers are not in a mood to pay more on the spot market.

Shippers tracking the Maersk-IBM blockchain project to see if it yields real benefits in helping them monitor cargo movement could soon get a glimpse of whether it does. But they can also expect trucking rate increases and no near-term resolution to the problem of getting truck capacity.

The April 1 launch of new carrier Ocean Network Express is experiencing booking delays in some jurisdictions as cargo from three carriers migrates to the new network.

Shippers looking to send goods from Latin America west — especially from Mexico — to China and the Far East, and in the other direction, have a growing list of options after the launch of three new services.

The new order for mega-ships gives Hyundai Merchant Marine the container shipping industry's third-largest orderbook.

The service is the latest by an ocean carrier seeking to develop time-definite business arrangements with importers of certain products when they have a critical mass of shippers at designated destinations.

It is the slow post-Lunar New Year season, but spot rates are now at a 12-month low, with China manufacturing production also starting to slow down.

Neither country has listed a deadline for tariff implementation, hence the situation remains dynamic and fluid. However, key analysts are formulating worst-case scenarios.

Maersk, which transports roughly 20 percent of India’s total container cargo, said India's strong trade uptrends came despite widespread supply chain disruptions caused by recent tax and other regulatory reforms in the country.

Equally significant, the increases pushed the spot rates above the psychologically significant $1,000 and $2,000 levels, for the West Coast and East Coast, respectively.

Maersk India has substantially expanded its end-to-end cold chain service to and from India, which has enabled domestic reefer shippers to venture into new locales.

Investigators in the inquiry, led by Commissioner Rebecca Dye, have directed carriers to provide detailed information about their detention and demurrage practices; the same is being sought from marine terminal operators.

Cosco Shipping Holdings, China's largest shipping company, has continued to aggressively expand into landside logistics, building on Beijing’s Belt and Road strategy to grow its terminal and inland footprint in Asia and Europe.

Hyundai Merchant Marine will sign an agreement to cooperate with Sinokor Merchant Marine and Heung-A Shipping for intra-Asia routes to facilitate the anticipated merger of the latter two companies’ container shipping operations.

After six years of losses, the container shipping industry ended 2017 with a profit of about $7 billion. Financial reports of the 13 carriers do show improvement but do not yet reflect a full recovery — a recovery that should continue in 2018, given the strengthening global economy, unless political issues intervene.

The regional carrier's new service will offer fewer port calls — enabling it to build a larger buffer into its schedule.

Anthony Chiarello, president and CEO of US domestic ocean carrier TOTE, said he will retire this summer after nearly 39 years in the maritime industry.

Rising tariffs and retaliatory measures are a threat to global trade, an alliance of shipper organizations has warned.

In theory, blockchain has the potential to enable global container carriers to create a universal, standardized, ledger system with many more efficient processes. The question is whether carriers who are fierce competitors and who do not trust each other can use a system in which trust is integral.

Rising demand on the Asia-New Zealand-Australia trade could be further boosted by China's trade dispute with the United States.