MSC, Mærsk & CMA CGM – where rivalry doesn't matter (and where it does)
Behind closed doors
Exporters in Australia and New Zealand could benefit from softer rates after an injection of capacity hits the trade.
In early February, MSC will begin its ‘enhanced standalone’ version of its Eagle Service from Australia/New Zealand to US East Coast on a rotation ofs: Philadelphia-Savannah-Freeport-Rodman-Papeete-Auckland-Sydney-Melbourne-Brisbane-Tauranga-Rodman-Cristobal-Philadelphia.
One major NZ exporter told The Loadstar they had seen “some downward pressure” on freight rates to the USEC and beyond as a result.
“Rates to USEC have been pretty inflated since Covid days, so this could put them back into check… with the new MSC service about to hit, there is plenty of capacity to fill,” they said.
According to the Freightos Terminal, current average spot rates from Auckland to Philadelphia are around $4,241 per teu. This is down significantly from this time last year, where the rate was around $6,672.
Source: Freightos Terminal average spot rates Auckland-Philadelphia (click to expand)
“The east coast services out of NZ are also a vehicle for the faster UK/EU transits, so are looked at as the premium services to get up that way… any better connection to UK/EU over Panama is a good thing for NZ exporters especially,” the exporter said.
Indeed, a recent report by New Zealand Foreign Affairs and Trade revealed that primary industry exports to the UK had continued to grow, “driven by high prices in the UK and the New Zealand-UK free-trade agreement”.
Across the second year of that FTA, the value of primary industry exports grew 25%, from $1.06bn to $1.33bn. The report noted that lamb, beef, and dairy delivered the majority of the growth, while returns on wine had dropped.
Meanwhile, from 3 February, CMA CGM will be slot-sharing on Maersk’s USEC-Australia-New Zealand-South Pacific Oceania service, OC1.
CMA CGM will market this offering as its KEA service and, with its round-the-world PAD service, will provice twice-weekly sailings between the USEC and Oceania.
The KEA/OC1 service includes calls at Philadelphia, Charleston, Balboa, Tauranga, Sydney, Melbourne, Port Chalmers, Tauranga, Manzanillo, Cartagena. and Philadelphia.
The exporter explained: “The CMA CGM new KEA option is really just taking the slots on the Maersk OC1 service MSC is vacating in favour of the new standalone Eagle service.
“A similar thing is happening on the US west coast service out of NZ – although the three carriers involved, CMA CGM (ANL branded), Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk, will just consume the MSC slots between them, and MSC will relay to the USWC via Rodman, Panama.
“The services all call at Australian ports before heading from NZ, and our cargo volumes remain strong. And there is another bumper kiwi fruit season not far away, plus, with the US grinding beef market being so strong, plenty of dairy is moving also.
“There are other interesting cargo mixes, like a lot of Fiji water that gets moved from Fiji with Neptune Pacific Direct Line and then loads in NZ for North America,” they added.
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