Trans-Atlantic

Despite the lack of industry-wide emissions measurement, shippers are pressing ahead with their own sustainability programs and working with supply chain emissions data that is available, TPM23 attendees were told.

Cosco Shipping’s large orderbook and decreasing market share make it more likely to go after customers of its Ocean Alliance partners, analyst Lars Jensen told TPM23.

The elevated rate levels on the trans-Atlantic will continue to soften, but there will be no steep drop in prices as seen on the major trades out of Asia, TPM23 attendees were told.

Hapag-Lloyd is the latest carrier to sign a supply deal with a major energy company aimed at locking in the volumes of alternative fuel required to drive new dual-fuel ships.

MSC vessels that transport containers for DB Schenker will use a blend of biofuel under an agreement designed to generate substantial cuts in CO2 emissions this year.

It might have been a fourth quarter to forget for OOCL as volume and rates tumbled, but a strong performance through the rest of 2022 has put the carrier on course for another profitable year.

If Maersk’s volumes and market share continue to slip, the reduction in size will eventually challenge profitability aspirations in a market where some competitors are increasing their scale benefit, writes analyst Lars Jensen.

Global economic growth is expected to outstrip container shipping demand through 2023, potentially upsetting the traditional approach to measuring trade.

Maersk does not believe any of the major carriers outside the 2M Alliance have the competitive network, scale, or cost base to forge individual paths outside their current partnerships.

The uncertain direction of the US economy is prompting consumers to hit the pause button on their buying habits, forcing a major retail group to further downgrade import projections through the first half of the year.

Carriers on the trans-Atlantic find themselves in the curious position of adding capacity to the trade while at the same time having to blank sailings to maintain the supply-demand balance.

Denmark’s DSV collected record profits for 2022, but the forwarder says a return to a more “normal” market has begun.

The move raises questions whether the carriers will seek new alliance partners, potentially setting off another round of musical chairs involving the other two networks, THE Alliance and the Ocean Alliance.

With an increased focus by importers on geopolitics and “friend-shoring,” carriers are shifting an increasing volume of deep-sea vessel capacity away to Vietnam — and away from China.

Dirtier products are the unintentional winners in global trade where cleaner finished goods pay higher tariffs, resulting in an effective “subsidy” of polluting commodities, according to the World Trade Organization.

The digital sharing of schedule information via Rotterdam’s Nextlogic platform addresses the complexity involved in terminals booking and handling 18,000 container barges a year.

Shippers are generally willing to share in the cost of reducing carbon emissions, but they worry a lack of transparency in pass-through charges could allow shipping lines to continue burning fossil fuels.

The disruption to trade lanes caused by the pandemic is over, but slowing demand has left carriers struggling to manage the existing capacity flooding back into service as congestion eases and new ships are delivered.

The collapse in ocean freight rates is a clear signal that the market is reverting to its pre-pandemic state, but the burning question for 2023 is whether that reversion is temporary.

Maersk’s new executive lineup covers 15 areas of responsibility within the carrier and is a combination of long-term company leaders and those with experience from outside the group.

As port congestion eases on the US East Coast and in North Europe, capacity freed from the bottlenecks will add to the fast-growing vessel supply at a time when economic weakness is dragging down demand, with rates certain to follow.

The cap-and-trade emissions cutting system being implemented in Europe will have a “positive influence” on decarbonization agreements at an international level, according to the European Shippers’ Council.

THE Alliance member Hapag-Lloyd says shippers can expect a “simplified” network in 2023, but that could mean larger ships, fewer services, and less transshipment.

The trans-Atlantic is the “last trade standing” with rate levels still elevated, but that may soon change as carriers move ships from the rapidly weakening trades out of Asia to Europe-US routes.

Dockworkers at Felixstowe have agreed to pay deals covering this year and next, closing the door on a campaign of industrial action at the UK port that began over the summer.

With prices on east–west routes out of Asia in freefall, high rate levels on the trans-Atlantic is encouraging carriers to shift capacity into the westbound trade, putting those rates under pressure.

The trans-Atlantic westbound trade has bucked the falling rate trend on the major trade routes out of Asia, and carriers are shifting capacity to take advantage.

An acceleration of US imports from Europe in June suggests there will be no relief through the summer for overwhelmed US East Coast terminals.

Importers in the US are finding higher volumes on the westbound trans-Atlantic are coming with soaring rate levels and record-low schedule reliability, with little relief in sight.

Carriers and analysts warn that higher-than-expected demand and resulting shifts in vessel rotations have made the US East Coast “the next hot spot” for port congestion.

After a year of growing disruption, shippers are seeking a more predictable service on the trans-Atlantic, which can be seen in far higher contract rates than just a few months ago.

The trans-Atlantic trade will report significant volume growth in 2021 as heavy US demand fills all available capacity and pushes rates to record levels.

Three ocean carriers have decided to temporarily switch US calls to Charleston instead of Savannah as more than 20 vessels are anchored off the Georgia port.

The trans-Atlantic trade lane heads into its busy fourth quarter facing the same capacity-cutting port congestion issues as the larger trades out of Asia, leaving little room for rates to drop from record highs.

Mediterranean Shipping Co. is repositioning vessels from the trans-Atlantic to the trans-Pacific in a bid to meet the market’s high demand for Asia services.

The reopening of the US and European economies after last year’s COVID-19 lockdowns spurred a resurgence in the trans-Atlantic container trade as business activity in two of the world’s largest economies showed better than expected growth in May, with increases concentrated at US ports that have undergone major expansions.

Elevated rate levels, peak season surcharges, equipment shortages, poor reliability, high demand — the challenges are mounting for shippers on the busy Europe-North America trade lane.

Multiple factors are lining up to rock the traditional stability of the trans-Atlantic, even as those on the trade prepare for strong growth in volume.

The trans-Atlantic has largely managed to avoid the extreme rate increases of the other east-west routes, but that may be about to change.

Several top French shippers have committed to a wind-driven sailing service on the trans-Atlantic as part of efforts to further reduce their cargo’s carbon footprint.