Transpacific sees first major MSC blanks as rates fall and volumes falter
Following nine weeks of consecutive declines in spot freight rates on the transpacific, carriers are ...
© Andre Luis Scs Ferreira
By Mike Wackett
Container spot freight rates between Asia and South America’s east coast have recovered from the depths at the beginning of this year, soaring by over 400% on the back of radical capacity cuts.
According to Drewry, the Asia-ECSA route is a trade currently “bucking the trend with an unparalleled spike in prices”.
Spot rates between Shanghai and Santos languished at a sub-economic $600 or less per 40ft through January and early February, according to Drewry’s Container Freight Rate Insight data, forcing carriers ...
Comment on this article
Orestis Katsoulas
July 11, 2016 at 3:27 pmWouldn’t the reduction in the Asia-ECSA services increase the number of idling ships and hence increase costs for the carriers? Does it depend on the trade-off between the higher freight rates against the cost of over-capacity such as in idling ships?
Mike Wackett
July 12, 2016 at 10:13 amIn theory yes.
However, the carriers may be able to off-hire some chartered-in tonnage and / or redeploy the redundant vessels, together with owned ships, onto other trades.