Situation

The pre-Chinese New Year rush was less pronounced than in previous years, and there was sufficient space to ship out cargo before factories closed. However, congestion at terminals such as Shanghai and Yantian was an issue. Some factories are still closed and will not reopen until the beginning of March. Demand is lower than usual, but is expected to recover by mid-March. The full impact of military tensions on sea cargo operations is yet to be seen.

 Obstacles

The roll pools created by carriers before CNY have had a negative impact on the transit times and reliability of some shipments, resulting in delays at transshipment ports. Due to military tensions in the Middle East, some services that were previously routed via the Suez Canal have been rerouted via the Cape of Good Hope instead. Congestion in European ports remains a problem in terms of reliability and transit times.

 Outlook

Demand is currently low, but a recovery is expected in the second half of March. In April, CMA-CGM will launch their new direct service connecting Japan and Northern Europe. This will be the company’s only direct service. The service will also call at the Chinese ports of Xiamen and Yantian, offering a market advantage in terms of transit time. At the same time, it will introduce extra capacity to the market. MSC will also restore their direct "Phoenix" service into the Adriatic in April which will help the schedule reliability for cargo destined for this region.

Recent developments mean that a return to the Suez Canal is no longer a viable option, despite the fact that most observers initially expected carriers to use this option more widely at the end of Q2. However, as always, everything depends on the situation in the region. Based on the latest developments, carriers are introducing emergency fuel surcharges on all trades, so rates are expected to increase much more than normal for this time of year. This is having a greater impact on Mediterranean destinations than on ports in Northern Europe.

Main Ports: Far East to North Europe

^{Source: Market average rates for 40‘ containers according to www.xeneta.com}

Main Ports: Far East to Mediterranean