Please select a reason for contacting BIMCO from the list above to find the best contact number
Webinar - Container Shipping Outlook: The Asia-Europe Trade
- 30 April 2024
- 30 April 2024
- Online
- Niels Rasmussen
- nr@bimco.org
Join this special webinar featuring experts from S&P Global, DACHSER, Lidl, and BIMCO as they discuss the Container Shipping Outlook for the Asia-Europe Trade.
The Red Sea attacks that forced ocean carriers to divert Asia-to-North Europe and Mediterranean services around the southern tip of Africa allowed container shipping to address its two main challenges heading into 2024: overcapacity and low-rate levels. Carriers will take delivery of nearly 2 million TEU of new capacity this year, a significant portion of which will be mega-ships that can only be deployed on the trades between Asia and Europe.
While BIMCO estimates the Africa diversions are absorbing up to 9.5% of the excess capacity as carriers add ships to loops to maintain weekly schedules, economic growth in the Eurozone is forecast to be just 0.9% this year, only a slight improvement from 0.5% growth in 2023. Average spot rates from Asia to North Europe were less than $1,000 per TEU in late November 2023 but quickly rose when the Red Sea attacks began, peaking in mid-January at more than $5,000 per TEU before falling sharply.
By early April, spot rates had lost more than a third of the gains made since December. Asia-Europe supply chains now have settled into the longer voyages with the Africa diversions expected to remain at least through the peak season. But the underlying challenges of overcapacity and downward rate pressure are reasserting themselves on the market. There is more than enough available capacity to cover the demand this year, even with the Red Sea crisis, and as soon as transits via the Suez Canal resume, rates will almost certainly collapse.
Speakers
- Greg Knowler, Europe Editor, Journal of Commerce by, S&P Global
- Marc Meier, Managing Director Air & Sea Logistics EMEA, DACHSER
- Jochen Gutschmidt. Senior Advisor-Inland Supply Chain and Logistics, Lidl
- Niels Rasmussen, Chief Shipping Analyst, BIMCO
Time: 14:00-15:00 UTC
