International ports

The comments by Louis Sola during a Senate hearing come amid rising US scrutiny of Chinese influence over the crucial waterway.

The arrangement allows international carriers to transship domestic import and export cargoes at Shanghai’s Yangshan deepwater port from selected ports in northern China.

Each month of last year saw reliability degrade compared with the corresponding month in 2023, although 2024 carried the burden of vessel diversions around southern Africa as carriers avoided the Suez Canal and Red Sea.

The Belgian port has restored the throughput that was lost following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, filling the gap in part by capturing market share from its northern range rivals.

New services entered the trade last year amid elevated rates and high demand, but a seasonal lull is putting pressure on prices with plentiful space now on the lane.

A new report from the Biden administration alleges that Beijing has a poor compliance record with the WTO, practices duplicitous trade policies that give the country unfair advantages, and operates with an overall lack of transparency.

The moves by Hapag-Lloyd and CMA CGM come amid uncertainty about the outlook for the intra-Asia trade, with one analyst suggesting a possible rate war could see prices in the region tumble if there is no summer peak season.

Local freight forwarders believe any extra capacity entering the Indian market from smaller ship operators working around an “opportunistic approach” has the potential to spoil rate recovery efforts by large carriers.

Shippers moving cargo on the inter-Americas lane can expect to see further volume growth in 2025, potentially reflected by increased attention and capacity from carriers.

Shanghai and Ningbo are dealing with “serious” congestion, according to a forwarder, while labor shortages in Hamburg are causing berthing delays of up to 10 days.

Industry observers believe carriers on the trade lane could struggle to manage the huge influx of capacity, thus forcing them to undercut each other on pricing to maximize loadings.

Continuing the steady slide from a late-July peak, average spot rates from West India to the US East Coast have dropped about 20% from the end of November.

Severe weather and a rush of cargo before Lunar New Year celebrations slow Asian factory production are clogging major ports from Tokyo to Shanghai.

The proposed facility at Jinhae, about 25 miles west of downtown Busan, would have nine berths in its first phase capable of handling more than 6 million TEUs annually by 2032.

A consortium of six national labor groups, representing thousands of dockworkers in the country, was to launch an indefinite industrial action from Dec. 17 without the deal.

US maritime regulators are investigating reports that the Spanish government has blocked US-flag Maersk ships carrying military cargoes for Israel from calling Algeciras.

Various labor groups representing dockworkers at the country’s 12 public gateways have threatened to strike if the government fails to follow through on a wage agreement due to financial strains.

The ocean carrier looks to secure berth slots and yard space ahead of 2025 as container lines and new alliances plan to leverage terminal ownership stakes.

While India-USEC spot rates have steadily dropped from a late-July peak because of the demand downturn and increased capacity, co-loaders have been even more aggressive in adjusting rates downward to reach their slot targets.

The agreement was set in motion by Evergreen just weeks after Singapore experienced unprecedented congestion in May and June, with vessel delays of up to 10 days.

A dearth of consolidation means there are still plenty of visibility vendors for shippers to choose from, but it also means the market as a whole is on somewhat unsteady ground.

A lack of action at the government level is now the number one bottleneck facing green corridor projects, according to a new report.

The move comes as the DP World-operated hub is making large investments in berths and supporting infrastructure with a plan to grow its throughput and attract volumes from other UK ports, including top rival Felixstowe.

US retailers plan to significantly increase imports in November and December compared with projections from just one month ago following Donald Trump’s election to a second term.

Among the major container lines, CMA CGM has taken the lead in reinstating shorter Suez Canal routings, offering India exporters to North America shorter transits than the majority of other services sailing around southern Africa.

Sources also noted that some recent sailings on the trade lane have had difficulty filling space at Nhava Sheva and Mundra in line with declared allocation plans.

The major Chinese ports of Shanghai and Ningbo are currently experiencing delays of two to three days due to the lingering impacts of the storm that hit the region late last week.

It is the second major port investment the Marseilles-based carrier has made recently after paying $1.2 billion last month for a majority stake in Brazil’s largest terminal operator.

Forwarders say intra-Asia pricing is strengthening amid congestion-based blank sailings and strong demand, and carriers are marshalling another round of peak season rate increases.

A report from the US Governmental Accountability Office shows the possible, but narrow, path for adoption of automation at US ports as maritime employers and longshore labor along the East and Gulf coasts attempt to hammer out a new master contract.

The move comes as container shipping affiliate Cosco Shipping Holdings is expanding services between China and Thailand and as overall shipping capacity is growing between the two countries.

A rise in consumer spending in Europe has kept volume at the port in positive territory so far this year, but full vessels and “peak loads” are keeping pressure on terminals and inland connections.

The Belgian hub says it now handles almost one-third of the container trade in the busy Hamburg-Le Havre port range.

The carrier will exit the 2M Alliance next January and has been on an acquisition spree over the past year to shore up its global logistics and container terminal operations.

The country could be on the verge of undoing legislation that abolished cabotage restrictions, saying the boost received by foreign-flag carriers has come at the expense of local shipping interests.

The group, comprising ONE, HMM and Yang Ming, said the changes apply to two trans-Pacific services and an Asia-Mediterranean service.

DP World’s group chairman and CEO had initially ordered the cancellation of Monday’s announcement after being angered by comments made last week by two UK government officials.

The move comes after two UK government officials sharply criticized the March 2022 mass layoffs at DP World subsidiary P&O Ferries while launching new legislation to protect seafarer rights.

Local freight forwarders say carriers on the trade lane are willing to strike special rate deals with large-volume customers on a per-sailing or short-term contract basis.

With no improvement in the Red Sea security situation and shippers preparing for 2025 contracts, Gemini has jettisoned the traditional shorter route in favor of the longer transit around southern Africa.