Monthly Archives for June 2017

Asia-Europe spot rates flat ahead of July 1 increases Recent previous rate increases on the Asia-Europe trade failed to stick. There was virtually no change in spot rates from China to North Europe and the Mediterranean with still a week to go before the next round of rate increases scheduled for July 1.The Shanghai-North Europe […]

Long-awaited US inventory drawdown spotted Industry analysts say strong truck and steady intermodal traffic in May suggest US retailers are finally drawing down their inventories after two years of a higher-than-average inventory-to-sales ratio, a welcome sign for container lines to trucking companies but a warning that breakneck warehousing demand may slow. While May’s inventory-to-sales ratio, […]

Trans-Pac tussle for market share dragging down rates Container volumes on the Asia-US trade have risen sharply even as rates have fallen. The battle for market share on the trans-Pacific can be clearly seen in the freight rate levels that have slumped to a 10-month low even as volumes grow strongly on the trade and […]

Fitch warns capacity could take wind out of ocean rate uptick New capacity will test carriers in the coming year. A marked recent financial improvement for container shipping companies riding an uptick in rates may be short-lived if carriers mishandle the additional ship capacity on the way, Fitch Ratings said Tuesday. The agency’s statement offered […]

Free container database growing exponentially More than 1,000 companies and individuals have signed up to use the new BoxTech platform. Free container database BoxTech is rapidly expanding and now has the digital records of roughly 5 million containers, representing 20 percent of the global fleet and a 50 percent increase over last month. Launched in […]

Video: Tech Will Make Forwarders More Relevant, Not Less How do freight forwarders fit into the future of the industry? Will their position as middlemen become obsolete? Mark Laufer, CEO of Laufer Group International, discussed the topics of carrier culture change and the impact of the Hanjin bankrupcy, as well as the road he sees […]

China-Europe spot market ignores second June rate increase MSC Vanoya at Malaysia’s port of Tanjung Pelepas. China-North Europe and Asia-Mediterranean spot rates dropped by 6 percent this week as the market shrugged off another attempt by carriers to push up the freight-all-kinds (FAK) rate on both trades. Several carriers announced that they would be charging FAK […]

US exporters struggling to find inland containers Container stacks at key inland US shipping hubs are getting shorter, and sometimes disappearing. US exporters are scrambling to find containers, with some coming up empty-handed, and while some of the shortage is seasonal, some has been owed to new Chinese regulations slowing container production and pressure on […]

Year after SOLAS rule, doubts over VGM accuracy linger A year after the implementation of the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) requirement, the once hot-button fears about the regulation have disappeared, but doubts on the accuracy of declarations linger. Year after SOLAS rule, doubts over VGM accuracy linger International Freight

Spain dockworkers, employers in strike talks The threat of strikes and disruptions hangs over Spanish ports such as Barcelona. Spanish dockworker unions and port employers are holding talks Tuesday in a bid to avert a 48-hour nationwide port strike due to start Wednesday morning. The two sides failed to reach agreement on implementing the government’s […]