The big reverse
In contrast with the same period last year, now the demand continues to drop. Once busy Port of Los Angeles undergoes dropping imports by 15.5% year on year. Experts expect volume pullback to continue in the months ahead. The spot rates follow suit - the WCI has dropped below US$5,000 at US$4.942. Rates from China have dipped, a minimum of over 40% across the trade lanes to Europe & US. Trying to keep the spot rates from falling, shipping lines have started to withdraw capacity. Some already fear that all the service blankings will lead to another empty container shortage crisis.
In contrast, high charter bills persist and these expensive conditions leave some of the carriers saddled since they rely on chartered tonnage.
FMC has proposed a rule aimed at preventing ocean carriers from locking out customers from the carriers’ available vessel space. This is because shippers have been complaining about carriers that have been taking advantage of more lucrative import rates. MSC is accused of not following documentation rules.
China continues enhancing its ties with the West, with Hungary in particular. CATL sealed the building and development of its own factory in Debrecen. The investment is almost at 7,34 billion euros. COSCO’s ambitious plans to invest in the Port of Hamburg leave Germany concerned. The debate about whether to let Chinese infrastructure grow or not continues.
The EU intermodal transport suffers from low punctuality and effectiveness. Shippers do not want to switch to road and bad communication remains the core problem. While the EU Commission is trying to solve the multimodal riddle, strikes continue disrupting the situation. The Port of Felixstowe is about to dive into a second wave. Strikes now remind the industry of a big wave, putting supply chains under pressure. In the US the consensus was reached before the strike could have started.
New services
DP World has established a rail link out of Ukraine to the port of Constanta.
The statement signed between Russia, Azerbaijan, and Iran commemorates the start of the joint efforts of the countries to fill the gaps in the railway infrastructure of the International North-South Transport Corridor.
A new container shipping line has been launched in China’s Quanzhou connecting Vladivostok.
CMA CGM Group will end the 9th vessel to SAFRAN service connecting North Europe with East Coast South America. The rotation is London, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Antwerp, Tanger, Santos, Paranagua, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Paranagua, Santos, Tanger, London.
Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG has launched the first train within the Amber Train project from Muuga port.
Other
COSCO has outlined the expansion of the fleet. Then outlay of the new ships amounts to $4.9bn and 580,000 tue by the end of 2025.
Russian Railways intends to open additional border crossings for rail traffic in the Far East since the current Zabaikalsk-Manchuria does not provide enough capacity. It is happening because of the fact that now many companies in Russia have shifted their focus toward the east, and bottlenecks have started to occur.
Hapag-Lloyd will invest in Italy-based logistics company Spinelli Group. It will acquire 49%.
Maersk has completely divested its minority stake in Russian container terminal operator Global Ports Investments PLC following the plan to discontinue activity with Russia.
China’s share of global trade growth imports and exports will plummet to 13% in the next 5 years, analytics say.
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