Newsletter – September 18, 2020

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    Sep

    Newsletter – September 18, 2020
    OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES
    FMC to investigate carriers’ runaway rates success
    container-news.com
    Following up on last week’s efforts by the Chinese Ministry of Transport to curb runaway spot rates, United States authorities have threatened to take carriers to court if they discover evidence of collusion in the container shipping industry’s highly profitable response to the global pandemic.
    The US government’s Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) called a private meeting yesterday (16 September) to discuss what it described as “market trends in trade lanes serving the US and actions taken by both individual carriers and global alliances in response to Covid-19 and related impacts to the shipping industry”. Read more here.
    Container rate contagion spreads to Latin America
    splash247.com
    The latest spot rates published by the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI) today show prices inching upwards on the main transpacific and Asia-Europe tradelanes, but spiralling by record heights from Shanghai to the east coast of Latin America.
    Rates on many tradelanes have been hitting record territory in recent weeks as carriers’ blanked sailing policy has paid off handsomely. Read more here.
    Maersk cancels all blanked sailings on the transpacific
    splash247.com
    Citing the strong import volumes seen in North America seen over the past 60 days, which it anticipates to carry on until at least November, Maersk, the world’s largest containerline, has announced it is cancelling all blanked sailings on the transpacific.
    The record spot rates seen on the transpacific to the west coast in recent weeks, nudging $4,000 per container, have sparked alarm in China, South Korea and the US. The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) today reported rates edging again this week to $3,867 per feu. Read more here.
    Record gap between short vs long contract freight rates on transpac
    lloydsloadinglist.com
    The gap between short-and long-term contract ocean freight rates on the transpacific trade lane has risen to a new record difference of US$2,400 per FEU, shipping association BIMCO has highlighted.
    And the record gap, according to figures from digital rates specialist Xeneta, is likely to mean higher long-term freight rates when contracts with cargo owners and shippers come up for negotiations and renewal in the coming weeks and months, observed BIMCO’s chief shipping analyst, Peter Sand. Read more here.
    Chaos at port of Felixstowe worsens as carriers refuse return of empty boxes
    theloadstar.com
    UK forwarders and shippers who route cargo through the port of Felixstowe will be unable to return empty containers to the port until at least 23 September.
    The UK’s largest container port continues to grapple with crippling congestion. Read more here.

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