International shipping and logistics market update - Week 33/2022

International shipping and logistics market update (Photo: Phaata)

1. Asia - North America route

The drop in demand for shipping caused freight rate to continue downward trend this week. The annual cyclical peak season does not appear to have taken place.

Volune on the Asia-North America (TPEB) service is expected to decline by year-end due to high orders and low demand.

Despite the more favorable rates, the rate of blank sailings, port congestion, and delays between transport modes in the US continue to affect schedule reliability.

- Freight rates: After a sudden increase in freight rates last week, this week the freight rate from Asia to the West Coast of North America fell again at $5,957/FEU, down 2.74 % from last week and down 14.18% from last month, according to Xeneta.

- Space: Most are available

- Equipment: Improved

Recommendation: Shippers should continue to make reservations at least 2 weeks before estimated time of departure (ETD) for the best chance. For ready-made goods, importers may consider taking advantage of the available space and the plummeting spot market prices.

Freight rate Asia- US West Coast | Week 33/22 (Image: Phaata.com)

2. Asia - Europe route:

There is no peak season like past years and demand has slowed.

Shipping capacity in the market is still relatively limited due to a large number of blanked sailings, slided schedules and omitted ports.

Port congestion in Europe, especially Hamburg and Rotterdam, has reached a critical level causing further delays and delaying the return of ships to Asia. Various voyages are having to skip calls at Hamburg and divert to alternative ports.

In general, the market remained relatively stable without a big spike in output. There are still many macro uncertainties such as the Ukraine conflict, high inflation across Europe, and falling consumer confidence.

There are indications that the power cut in Ningbo (Zhejiang province) will affect production output but there is no official information yet.

- Freight rates: The freight rates tend to decrease in early August. The freight rate from Asia to Northern Europe this week plummeted to $9,053/FEU, a sharp drop of 3.84% from the previous week and a decrease of 10.15% from the previous month, according to Xeneta data.

- Space: The space is starting to fill up again.

- Container equipment: Improved but still lacking in many Asian countries.

Recommendation: Shippers should make reservations at least 2 weeks before before estimated time of departure (ETD). Consider choosing a premium service and have the flexibility to choose replacement equipment when needed. Be flexible when planning shipments with anticipated congestion and delays.

Freight rate Asia-Europe | Week 33/22 (Image: Phaata.com)

3. North America - Asia route:

Ports in the East Coast region (USEC) continue to see challenges with vessel congestion and some shipping lines have dropped out of Charleston and Savannah ports.

Several shipping lines have announced that rail freight operations from Chicago across the West Coast have been improved and expanded to increase volume.

Erratic sailing schedules continue to pose major challenges.

For US West Coast ports (USWC), vessel arrivals and available capacity remained stable.

- Freight rate: No GRI announced in August. Freight rates from North America to Asia this week increased to $1,227/FEU, down 0.24% from last week and up 6.23 % compared with the previous month.

- Space: Stable for West Coast ports, and has improved in US East Coast ports.

- Empty container equipment: The shortage of container equipment is still causing difficulties for goods transported from within the US, especially at major ports.

Recommendation: Shippers make reservations at least 4 weeks or more before estimated time of departure (ETD).

Freight rate US West Coast - Asia | Week 33/22 (Image: Phaata.com)

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Read more:

• Disparity in fleet size between container carriers is getting bigger and bigger
• Air freight demand continues to decline in July
• VSC expands services from Vostochny port to Korea, Vietnam and China
• Yang Ming announced a profit of 4 billion USD in the first 6 months of 2022

Source: Phaata.com 

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