Situation

Space is getting tighter, with a planned capacity reduction of around 6% for April. This coincides with a 4-6% increase in demand on both the West and East coasts over the past few weeks, resulting in a currently quite “healthy” vessel utilization of around 90%.

Obstacles

The primary issue remains port congestion at transshipment hubs in Asia, such as Singapore and Tanjung Pelepas. In the USA, we have seen no major disruptions, aside from some recent delays in Houston due to dense fog.

Outlook

With yearly contracts expected to be finalized by the end of April, carriers are set to implement emergency bunker surcharges, effective from the beginning of this month until further notice. We expect an increase in volumes on this trade lane in the coming weeks.

Main Ports: Far East to US West Coast

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

Main Ports: Far East to US East Coast