Despite lower volumes being fixed in the spot market, it is key to tracking developments in the container shipping market, as it quickly responds to the changing situation and adjustments to demand and supply.
Retail sales are a key driver of European container imports. In early 2020 and early 2021, retail sales volumes in the EU and the UK suffered setbacks due to COVID restrictions but recently, high inflation and historically low consumer confidence have been the main concerns.
Cocaine, illegal timber, arms, cash, chemical weapons…and sea horses. Rarely are the crew, shipowner, operator or importer aware that their ships and containers are abused and used for illegal transport, and rarely is the crew on board involved.
Spot rates for shipping of containers out of Shanghai bound for Europe have now slipped below the USD 1,000 per TEU–mark for the first time since March 2009. Following yet another weekly drop in freight rates on this main trading lane, boxes are now being shipped off at USD 992 per TEU, USD 27 per TEU lower than last week.
So far this year, container volumes have fallen nearly 2% year-on-year while average freight rates have declined, reaching 2019 levels in September. Since then, they have continued to fall. However, the cost to charter a ship remains 25% higher than in 2019.
The demand for container shipping is stalling at the moment. Indicators for growth in the first months of 2016 point to limited overall demand and huge variations from trade to trade.
IMO advancing work of safe transport of plastic pellets at sea with the issue of IMO circular as the first step of a two-stage approach to address the environmental risks associated with such carriage.