Asia-US container rates rise, carriers restore capacity amid tariff delay

Container rates from Asia to the US rose this week, prompting ocean carriers to quickly add capacity to meet the expected surge in bookings.

According to data from Freightos, rates to both coasts of the US increased by 3%. Meanwhile, figures from supply chain consultancy Drewry show a 2% increase in rates from Shanghai to Los Angeles and a 4% increase from Shanghai to New York, as shown in the chart below.

Following the latest developments in US-China trade relations, Drewry expects spot rates to continue to rise next week as carriers restructure capacity to accommodate larger cargo bookings from China.

Kyle Beaulieu, senior director, head of Americas ocean freight at Flexport, said in a webinar this week that carriers that had been conducting blank sailings and suspending services to the US are now resuming operations.
Beaulieu said 10 China-US services were suspended, and as of today, six were scheduled to resume operations between weeks 22 and 24.

Ports in the US Pacific Northwest have been the biggest beneficiaries so far, Beaulieu said, as it is the shortest route to the US.

Alan Murphy, CEO of Sea-Intelligence, said that carriers that had cut trans-Pacific capacity due to a drop in bookings from China amid the 145% tariffs, are now scrambling to ramp up capacity ahead of the August 14 deadline.
This means that volumes that would normally be shipped during peak season now have to be shipped no later than mid-July.

Judah Levine, head of research at Freightos, said there is still some debate over whether the July and August deadlines mean cargo needs to be loaded at the port of origin by those dates – as was the case with the April 9 tariff deadline – or if cargo needs to arrive in the US by those dates.

“The latter would significantly shorten these lower-tariff windows,” Levine said. “Ocean shipments from Asia would have to move in the next week or two to arrive before 9 July.”

Levine noted that carriers have announced mid-month general rate increases (GRIs) ranging from $1,000 to $3,000 per 40-foot unit (FEU), and are planning similar rate increases on June 1 and June 15 with the goal of pushing rates to $8,000 per FEU.

“If successful, rate levels would be about on par with the Asia – US West Coast 2024 high reached last July,” Levine said. “Daily transpacific rates as of Monday have already increased about $1,000/FEU to the East Coast and $400/FEU to the West Coast to about $4,400/FEU and $2,800/FEU, respectively.”

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Source: Phaata.com (According to ICIS)

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