/ By TJ China Freight / Shipping

The container throughput of the eight major hub ports increased by 8.7% year-on-year

At present, the number of confirmed cases of new crown in the world has exceeded 60 million, and many countries have implemented stricter epidemic prevention measures. Experts reminded to be highly vigilant against the rebound of the winter epidemic. On the domestic front, economic and trade continued to recover steadily, and the vitality of the manufacturing market increased. In November, the manufacturing purchasing managers index continued to rebound from the previous month. In late November, the China Ports Association monitored that the cargo throughput of major coastal hub ports dropped slightly by 0.4% year-on-year, of which the foreign trade cargo throughput dropped by 3.4% year-on-year; the Yangtze River port production accelerated, and the hub port throughput increased by 24.7% year-on-year. Details are as follows:

1. The container business of the eight major hub ports rebounded steadily

On the one hand, the current domestic epidemic prevention and control has achieved practical results, and the manufacturing industry has effectively recovered under various policy incentives; on the other hand, the recovery of external demand has driven a significant increase in foreign trade export orders. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics show that the manufacturing new orders index and the import and export prosperity index both rebounded steadily in October. In late November, the China Ports Association monitored that the container throughput of the eight major hub ports increased by 3.7% year-on-year, and the growth rate was 5 percentage points lower than the previous period; of which, the container throughput of foreign trade increased by 3.8% year-on-year, and the domestic trade increased by 3.6% year-on-year. In terms of ports, the container throughput of Tianjin, Qingdao, Shanghai and Shenzhen ports increased by more than 10%. It is worth noting that the freight rate of the US route has continued to be high recently, and the market freight rate of the European ground route has also risen sharply year-on-year due to the significant increase in cargo sources. The shortage of space and cargo containers on ocean routes is more prominent.

2. Key monitoring port coal business continues to maintain a rebound trend

In late November, the temperature fell across the country, and the rapid recovery of power plant loads along the river and coastal areas led to a significant increase in daily coal consumption. The decline in available days of inventory boosted market procurement enthusiasm. The number of anchor ships in northern ports increased significantly, and the amount of coal launched continued to increase. In the current period, the coal throughput of Qinhuangdao Port and Shenhua Huanghua Port increased by 5.9% year-on-year, and increased by 2.9% from mid-year. Port inventory continued to decline. On November 30, the coal inventory of the two ports decreased by 18.5% year-on-year, which was a decrease of 1.4% from November 20.

3. Crude oil throughput of key monitoring ports dropped year-on-year

Recently, fuel prices have risen for four consecutive weeks under the stimulus of positive progress in the research and development of the new crown vaccine, a weak U.S. dollar, and tensions in the Middle East. Nevertheless, OPEC and allies still tend to postpone oil production increases plans to support the market during the second wave of the global epidemic. In this period, the China Ports Association focused on monitoring the crude oil throughput of coastal ports, which decreased by 3.5% year-on-year, but increased by 3.1% from the middle. Port stocks are sufficient. Crude oil stocks at the ports monitored on November 30 increased by 26.8% compared with the same period last year and increased by 3.2% from November 20.

 

The container throughput of the eight major hub ports increased by 8.7% year-on-year

4. Key monitoring port metal ore throughput growth has accelerated

Recently, the steel market demand has been generally stable, and steel stocks have continued to decline month-on-month. Weather factors in the northern region have a certain impact on the demand for building materials, and the boom in the manufacturing industry drives the demand for industrial steel. Steel mills are generally profitable and have high production enthusiasm. The price of iron ore repeatedly broke new historical highs. On the 30th, the contract price of iron ore 2101 reached 911.5 yuan/ton, an increase of 2.7% from the 20th. On November 24, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and other four ministries jointly issued a document stating that my country will completely ban the import of scrap steel from 2021, which will also boost iron ore prices to a certain extent. In late November, the China Ports Association's key monitoring port metal ore throughput increased by 16.1% year-on-year, and the growth rate increased significantly. Among them, the growth rate of Tianjin Port and Rizhao Port both exceeded 15%, and the growth rate of Ningbo Zhoushan Port exceeded 30%. Downstream steel mills have strong demand, and port inventory has shown a downward trend. Statistics show that on November 30, the key monitoring port inventory decreased by 4.9% year-on-year.

5. Throughput growth of the Yangtze River hub port has accelerated overall

In late November, production at the ports of the Yangtze River accelerated in an all-round way, reflecting the positive economic recovery in the hinterland. Statistics show that the cargo throughput of the three ports of Nanjing, Wuhan, and Chongqing increased by 24.7% year-on-year, 12% faster than the previous period, and the throughput of foreign trade cargo also maintained a rapid growth. Among them, the growth rate of Nanjing Port was nearly 30%, and that of Wuhan Port and Chongqing Port was about 20%. The container business further accelerated, with a year-on-year growth of 26.9%, an acceleration of about 10 percentage points over the previous period; the growth rate of Wuhan Port exceeded 90%.

 

The container throughput of the eight major hub ports increased by 8.7% year-on-year

6. Overview of key monitoring port production in November

In November, the cargo throughput of coastal ports monitored by the China Ports Association increased by 4% year-on-year, with a cumulative increase of 1.1% from January to November.

The container business continued to maintain a good recovery trend. In November, the container throughput of the eight major hub ports increased by 8.7% year-on-year, and the growth rate was 2.4 percentage points lower than that in October. Among them, foreign trade increased by 8.4%, a drop of 3.5 percentage points from October, and domestic trade increased by 9.4% year-on-year, slightly faster than October. In terms of ports, the growth rate of container throughput in Tianjin, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo Zhoushan and Shenzhen ports all exceeded 10%. The cumulative container throughput of the eight major hub ports from January to November returned to the level of the same period last year.

The coal market has entered a peak demand season, and throughput growth has accelerated. The coal throughput of Qinhuangdao Port and Shenhua Huanghua Port in November increased by 7.2% year-on-year, and the growth rate was about 1 percentage point higher than that in October. The cumulative decline from January to November was 4.4% year-on-year, and the rate of decline narrowed.

Crude oil imports slowed further. The throughput of key monitoring ports in November fell by 4.2% year-on-year, which was the first year-on-year decline since April. The cumulative increase from January to November was 8.9% year-on-year.

The growth rate of ore throughput dropped. The ore throughput of key monitoring ports in November increased by 1.6% year-on-year, a decrease of 2 percentage points from October. The cumulative increase from January to November was 7.6% year-on-year.

Production at the Yangtze River Port has been accelerated. In November, the cargo throughput and container throughput of the Yangtze River hub port increased by 18.7% and 18.8% year-on-year respectively, setting the highest growth rate for the year. From January to November, cargo throughput and container throughput dropped by 3.4% and 4.9% year-on-year, and the rate of decline narrowed.

China Ports Association

December 5, 2020

/ By TJ China Freight / Shipping

Where did the empty containers go?

In the past few months, due to the severe shortage of available empty containers, the global supply chain has been hit, causing exporters to have a headache. However, new research shows that there is an obvious problem in the container supply chain-empty containers stay in warehouses for an average of 45 days, while in China, the average time for each idle container is more than two months.

The research project of German company FraunhoferCML and Container xChange shows that although China and the United States urgently need containers, the average residence time of empty containers in warehouses is 61-66 days, which is much higher than the global average of 45 days.

 

The east coast of the United States is usually the location of surplus container equipment (the 40DC container availability value was 0.7 last year), but the container availability rate dropped to 0.43, indicating that there are actually fewer containers than needed.

The researchers said that compared with the Middle East (21 days on average) and Europe (23 days on average), the high standard deviations of 85 days in North America and 129 days in Asia indicate that in many cases, containers stay in warehouses longer than average. Much more.

 

Container xChange is a platform that connects users and suppliers. The platform stated that the availability of containers across China is still at a record low, while the surge in shipping containers from Asia has overwhelmed US ports, and retailers are eager to put their products on the shelves.

Not only is there a serious shortage of 40-foot tall containers (hc) in the shipping market, but there is also a shortage of 40-foot standard containers, and even 20-foot containers are sometimes in short supply.

The container availability rate of 40HCs is only 0.05 CAx (container availability rate) points, compared with 0.63 in the same period last year.

Asia's container manufacturing industry is working overtime to produce, which accounts for 45% of the global container manufacturing market. China International Marine Containers, the world's largest container manufacturer, announced an increase in its orders.

The factory is stepping up container building, and container orders have been scheduled to the first quarter of next year. Even so, the demand for millions of containers has made it impossible for container manufacturing to quench its thirst. The world's three largest container leasing giants have issued a warning that the shortage of containers will continue for four months.

 

Chinese shippers and freight forwarders all over the world "seeking" empty containers, but where did the empty containers go? The answer is simple, it is blocked in other ports.

While the Asian port and shipping industry is desperately desperate for empty containers, although there is a shortage of shipping capacity, price increases can be used to push shipping companies to cancel suspending, refilling, and increase shipping capacity; however, a large number of containers full of cargo are seriously stranded in European and American ports and warehouses. , Unable to move.

In order to alleviate the serious imbalance in equipment, shipping companies have adopted an active strategy for exports to Europe and the United States, suspending orders, and preferring to use as many empty containers as possible to fill return ships.

In fact, in order to prevent all but the most expensive goods, European exporters to Asia are required to pay more than $5,000 per 40-foot container to ensure shipment in December. A British freight forwarder said that many shipping companies now refuse to accept export orders before mid-January. "Our customers are willing to pay such a high freight, but due to port congestion, we are still working hard to get the boxes away. Some boxes have been on the dock for more than four weeks and still don't know when they will be shipped."

At the same time, the urgently needed empty containers in Asia are scattered in warehouses across Europe, especially in the United Kingdom, where troubled ports have to restrict container delivery to already overcrowded terminals.

The current shortage of containers is a once-in-a-century problem in the history of the global supply chain, and it is basically unsolvable in the short term.

/ By TJ China Freight / Shipping

The whole route has generally risen, and the freight rate continues to rise.

Affected by the epidemic, more and more countries have been "closed" for the second time, and the ports of many countries have become full of containers. Lack of containers, exploded cabins, dumped containers, jumping into ports, and frantically rising freight rates, foreign traders are under unprecedented pressure.

The latest data shows that European freight rates have increased by 170% year-on-year, and Mediterranean freight rates have increased by 203% year-on-year. In addition, as the U.S. epidemic becomes more severe and air transportation routes are blocked, shipping prices will continue to rise.

With strong shipping demand and a large shortage of containers, shippers are facing soaring container freight and surcharges, but this is just the beginning. The market may become more chaotic in the next month.

Freight rates continue to soar, 170% in Europe and 203% in the Mediterranean

China's export container shipping market continues to be high. The freight rates of many ocean routes increased to varying degrees, and the composite index continued to rise.

On November 27, the Shanghai Export Container Freight Index released by the Shanghai Shipping Exchange was 2048.27 points, an increase of 5.7% over the previous period. With the increase in freight rates and surcharges, Asia-Europe shippers will face more pain.

 

The whole route has generally risen, and the freight rate continues to rise. The shipping company announces the price increase notice in January next year!

Last week, the spot freight rate of containers from Asia to Northern Europe rose by 27%, breaking through US$2,000/TEU. The carrier plans to further increase FAK prices in December. The Northern European part of the Shanghai Container Freight Index (SCFI) rose by US$447 to US$2091 per TEU, up 170% year-on-year.

The price of SCFI at Mediterranean ports also surged 23% to US$2,219 per TEU, a 203% increase from 12 months ago.

For shippers in Asia and Europe, this pain of high freight rates shows no sign of ending. In addition to the large surcharges and premium product fees currently charged to ensure on-board equipment and space, freight rates will be further increased next month. .

On the return route, the situation of European exporters can be said to be worse; it is reported that they cannot secure bookings to Asia at any price before January.

Continuation of the high market, the overall freight rate continues to rise

The continued shortage of containers has further exacerbated the lack of capacity in the market, and the freight rates of most routes have increased, which has pushed up the comprehensive index.

On the European route, the capacity continues to be insufficient, and most of the flight booking rates have risen again.

For North American routes, the market supply-demand relationship remained at a relatively good level, and the spot market freight rates were high and stabilized.

On the Persian Gulf, Australia and New Zealand routes, and South America routes, the demand for transportation is strong, and the market freight rates continue to rise, rising by 8.4%, 0.6% and 2.5% respectively in this period.

 

The whole route has generally risen, and the freight rate continues to rise. The shipping company announces the price increase notice in January next year!

European routes have strong transport demand. The repeated epidemics in Europe have stimulated local import demand, and the market volume has remained high. The tightness of airline capacity is still increasing, and the contradiction between supply and demand has not been alleviated. Last week, the average space utilization rate of ships in Shanghai Port basically remained at the full level. Affected by this, most airlines will raise their freight rates at the beginning of next month, and the spot market freight rates will rise sharply.

On North American routes , the new crown epidemic in the United States is still severe. The cumulative number of confirmed cases and the number of new cases in a single day are still top of the list. The severe epidemic hinders the unpacking and transshipment of materials. The market capacity is relatively stable, but the market capacity is limited by the ever-increasing shortage of containers, the upside is limited, and the supply and demand conditions remain unchanged. Last week, the average space utilization rate of ships on the US West and East US routes at Shanghai Port was still close to full capacity. The route freight rate remained stable, and the spot market booking price was basically the same as the previous period.

For the Persian Gulf route , the market performance is generally stable, demand remains stable, market capacity is controlled within a relatively reasonable range, and the relationship between supply and demand remains balanced. Last week, the utilization rate of the shipping space of Shanghai Port remained above 95%, and individual flights were fully loaded. Most commercial airlines maintained their freight rates unchanged, and a few adjusted slightly, and the spot market freight rates rose slightly.

For Australia and New Zealand routes , the destination market is in the peak transportation season, transportation demand is rising steadily, and the relationship between supply and demand remains good. Last week, the average space utilization rate of ships in Shanghai Port remained above 95%, and most flights were fully loaded. Most airlines have maintained their booking prices at the previous period, but some have slightly increased, and the spot market freight rates have increased.

For South American routes , South American countries have insufficient capacity due to the epidemic, relying on imports for a large number of materials, and transportation demand continues to run at a high level. In this period, the average space utilization rate of ships in Shanghai Port was close to the full-load level. Under these fundamentals, most airlines increased their booking prices towards the beginning of the month, and the spot market freight rates increased.

Major shipping companies will issue another notice of price increases in 2021!

▍Maersk charges a peak season surcharge from the Far East to Europe

Maersk announced that it has imposed a new peak season surcharge (PSS) in Europe and East Asia from December to next year.

Suitable for refrigerated goods from the Far East to Northern and Southern European countries. The surcharge will be $1000/20' reefer container, $1500/40' reefer container, and will take effect on December 15, Taiwan PSS will take effect on January 1, 2021.

Far East to Northern Europe

 

The whole route has generally risen, and the freight rate continues to rise. The shipping company announces the price increase notice in January next year!

 

 

The whole route has generally risen, and the freight rate continues to rise. The shipping company announces the price increase notice in January next year!

 

 

The whole route has generally risen, and the freight rate continues to rise. The shipping company announces the price increase notice in January next year!

 

Far East to North and South Europe

 

The whole route has generally risen, and the freight rate continues to rise. The shipping company announces the price increase notice in January next year!

 

 

The whole route has generally risen, and the freight rate continues to rise. The shipping company announces the price increase notice in January next year!

The Maersk 2M Alliance partner Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) will use the following various (FAK) rates from Europe to Canada and Mexico.

 

The whole route has generally risen, and the freight rate continues to rise. The shipping company announces the price increase notice in January next year!

 

 

The whole route has generally risen, and the freight rate continues to rise. The shipping company announces the price increase notice in January next year!

• Carrier Security Check Fee (CSF): US$11 per container

•  Emergency Fuel Surcharge (EBS) (when applicable): US$500 per refrigerator, US$100/TEU per dry container

In addition, MSC has made the following rate adjustments from December 1, 2020 until further notice, but not more than December 31, 2020.

 

The whole route has generally risen, and the freight rate continues to rise. The shipping company announces the price increase notice in January next year!

▍ CMA CGM

CMA CGM, the world's third largest container shipping company, has started the new year and will introduce the latest FAK rates from Northern Europe to Canada, the east coast of Mexico, the east and west coasts of the United States and the Gulf of Mexico.

 

The whole route has generally risen, and the freight rate continues to rise. The shipping company announces the price increase notice in January next year!

•  Cargo: dry containers, reefer containers, tank containers and special equipment

 

The whole route has generally risen, and the freight rate continues to rise. The shipping company announces the price increase notice in January next year!

•  Cargo: dry containers, reefer containers, tank containers and special equipment

 

The whole route has generally risen, and the freight rate continues to rise. The shipping company announces the price increase notice in January next year!

•  Cargo: all types

•  USEC, US Gulf and USWC include New York, Norfolk, Savannah, Charleston, Houston, Miami, New Orleans and Oakland.

From January 1, CMA CGM will also implement the following FAK rates for dry containers, reefer containers, open containers, pallets and shipper-owned containers (SOC).

 

The whole route has generally risen, and the freight rate continues to rise. The shipping company announces the price increase notice in January next year!

 

▍Hapao features GRI rates from East Asia to the United States and Canada

Effective date: January 1, 2021.

This increase applies to all dry containers, reefer containers, non-working reefer containers, tank containers, frame containers and open top containers.

East Asia to North America (United States and Canada):

USD 960 for all 20' container types

USD 1,200 for all 40' container types

East Asia includes countries/regions in Japan, South Korea, China/Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macau, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, the Philippines and Russia’s Pacific Rim provinces.

 

The whole route has generally risen, and the freight rate continues to rise. The shipping company announces the price increase notice in January next year!

In addition, Hapag-Lloyd also released new (GRI) rates for all dry containers, reefer containers, non-operating reefer containers, storage tanks, frame containers and open top containers from South Asia and Northeast Asia to Australia , Effective from January 1st.

Southeast Asia to Australia

•  US $ 150/20'

•  US $ 300/40'

Northeast Asia to Australia

•  US $ 300/20'

•  US $ 600/40'

Southeast Asia includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, while Northeast Asia includes South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

According to current market conditions, Hapag-Lloyd will increase the GRI rate for all cargo and all container types from East Asia to the East Coast of South America from December 7, 2020, to USD 550 per container.

 

The whole route has generally risen, and the freight rate continues to rise. The shipping company announces the price increase notice in January next year!

Hapag-Lloyd announced the rates for all 20' and 40' (high container) goods in the westbound trade from East Asia (including Japan) to Northern Europe and the Mediterranean. The collection will start on December 15, 2020, and will be collected until further notice. Various cargoes (FAK) subject to marine fuel recovery (MFR):

 

The whole route has generally risen, and the freight rate continues to rise. The shipping company announces the price increase notice in January next year!

 

 

The whole route has generally risen, and the freight rate continues to rise. The shipping company announces the price increase notice in January next year!

 

 

The whole route has generally risen, and the freight rate continues to rise. The shipping company announces the price increase notice in January next year!
/ By TJ China Freight / Shipping

Where are the empty boxes that can’t be grabbed?

The port is not the boss, the ship is not the boss, and the cargo is the boss. This is a "golden sentence" circulating in the port and shipping industry. However, the freight forwarder who has been busy in the front line of cargo booking may tell you that at this moment of chaos in this industry, the port is not the boss, the ship is not the boss, and the cargo is not the boss. You can't get the empty space if you grab the head. The box is the boss .

In recent weeks, due to a severe shortage of empty containers, some container ships sailing from Asia to Europe cannot even be fully utilized. A shipping source said, “Recently, we have to vacate some spaces because China does not have enough containers to meet freight demand.” Almost all transport companies have reported that they have a serious shortage of 40-foot high containers (hc) and 40 There is also a shortage of standard containers, and even 20-foot containers are sometimes in short supply.

The latest container availability index report from Container xChange shows that the availability of containers in various ports in China is at a record low. From the perspective of the container availability index, the index higher than 0.5 indicates a surplus of empty container inventory, and lower than 0.5 indicates a shortage of empty containers. The current availability of 40-foot containers in China is only 0.05 CAx points, compared with 0.63 points in the same period last year .

Chinese shippers and freight forwarders all over the world "seeking" empty containers, but where did the empty containers go? The answer is simple, it is blocked in other ports.

While the Asian port and shipping industry is desperately desperate for empty containers, warehouses across Europe, especially in the UK, are filled with "immobile" boxes in troubled ports and overcrowded docks.

Affected by the epidemic, shipping companies have used methods such as suspension of voyages and port jumps to control capacity and adjust freight rates, but to a certain extent they also broke the balance of empty and heavy containers between routes. With the gradual recovery of the economy, the trade demand of various countries has rebounded, and the exports of Europe and the United States have grown strongly. However, under the continuous epidemic situation, the various quarantine and epidemic prevention measures added by the port customs will inevitably slow down the circulation of containers. Coupled with the gathering of festivals such as "Black Friday" and "Christmas", the port operation capacity will not be able to keep up with the number of boxes. , The result is that a large number of containers are blocked in the port, empty containers can not go out, heavy containers can not enter. In some British ports, the volume of container transportation in recent months has even been 30% higher than normal, resulting in too many empty containers throughout the UK, and even the alarming phenomenon of containers being piled "at your doorstep".

A British freight forwarder said, "Even if customers are prepared to pay close to crazy freight rates to ensure that the goods are shipped, we are still busy trying to transport the empty containers because the port is already full. Some empty containers on the dock are already After being placed for more than four weeks, we still don’t know when they will be loaded."

In order to ensure the smooth operation of global logistics, liner companies have adopted some unconventional container deployment strategies, such as shortening the free container usage period to stimulate and speed up the circulation of containers on key routes; key routes and long-distance base ports give priority to container use and priority Vacant containers are deployed to countries and regions such as China, Southeast Asia, etc.; the monitoring of container return is slow. For example, some areas in Africa cannot receive goods normally, resulting in whether the container is returned or not. The liner company will comprehensively evaluate and reasonably release the container; some shipping companies even suspend it Made export reservations to Europe and the United States in order to fill as many empty containers as possible back to Asia. However, due to the empty container regulation of shipping companies, the freight rates on the Asia-Europe routes have also been increasing, and the market seems to be in a vicious circle of chaos.

At the same time, a survey conducted by xChange and FraunhoferCML, a German maritime research consultant, showed that despite the large-scale progress in global port handling technology, the time that containers remain empty in ports is still surprisingly long. This report unexpectedly shows that the global container vacancy phenomenon is very serious. The vacant time of each container in the port is 45 days on average, while the vacant time of containers in empty container shortage areas such as China and the United States is longer, 61 days and 61 days respectively. 66 days.

Obviously, the circulation of empty containers is a problem that the entire industry needs to face squarely, but it has been ignored by the industry for a long time. In the sudden crisis of the epidemic, the "old problems" have further deteriorated and gradually developed into today's thorny problems.

It is understood that CIMC, which accounts for 45% of the global container manufacturing market, said that the company is currently stepping up container building and container orders have been scheduled to the first quarter of next year. However, waiting for the new containers to leave the factory, after all, "far water can't save the immediate emergency", and the situation of "a box is hard to find" is expected to continue for some time. In addition to working overtime and deploying empty containers, what else can shipping companies and ports do? The structural empty container circulation problem may be difficult to obtain an optimal solution in a short period of time, but "it is not too late to make up for it". It is time to put more resources and efforts on solving the empty container problem.

/ By TJ China Freight / Shipping

In addition to suspension and additional surcharges, another 5 container ships jumped to the British port

As shipping companies continue to detain containers in Nordic ports and charge exporters more than US$5,000 per container to ship a container to Asia, there is increasing pressure for regulatory intervention.

British importers are currently facing major challenges. The shipping division of the Ocean Alliance has decided to transfer the other five ships that arrived in Felixstowe in December to Zeebrugge, Belgium.

According to a consultation conducted by the shipping company to its British customers last Friday , the five ships Cosco Shipping Azalea, Ever Goods, Ever Globe, CSCL Jupiter and CSCL Uranus  will no longer call Felixstowe, and will unload the British ships at Belgian ports. Imported products.

In addition, the partners of 2M and THE Alliance are also transferring ships from the congested British port, where the former is loading and unloading British cargo in Bremerhaven.

It is understood that due to the lack of open feeder ships and terminal capacity issues, it is almost impossible for British goods to be transferred before January next year. Some shipping companies are discussing not calling Felixstowe throughout January because they worry that the port will be saturated in a few weeks after Christmas.

However, as the terminals in Antwerp and Rotterdam have also become very congested, the choice of liner companies is becoming increasingly limited. However, a source from a shipping company said: "Our first priority is to reduce imports before shipping our container equipment back to Asia."

British export orders have been suspended by a number of shipping companies, and more and more orders can only be booked at other Nordic ports paying additional fees.

MSC said on Friday that it will significantly increase the FAK fee for a 40-foot container from Antwerp to Shanghai in December by 300% to US$5,000. MSC explained that it is facing very serious operational problems that have seriously affected the reliability and regular supply of inventory.

A source at a rival shipping company said the strategy is to block bookings so that MSC can return its empty containers to Asia more quickly.

He added: "If they can indeed get some reservations at this price, it will be a win-win."

At the same time, the European Shippers Council (ESC) and the European freight forwarders association CLECAT have joined forces to lobby the European Commission to intervene in this crisis.

Denis Choumert, president of ESC, said: "Shipping companies have been taking advantage of the tight capacity to increase revenue far beyond cost, which makes customers unhappy."

"The continuous unreliability of service, coupled with the record profits of the shipping company during the crisis, clearly illustrates a severely disturbed market, and shows that the carrier has substantially increased the spot freight and levied higher than the fixed-term contract price The huge surcharge."

A joint communiqué stated that ocean shipping companies serving Europe benefited from “privileges” that were provided to them by the Union’s Prevention of Immunity Regulations (CBER), which was updated in April.

"Such privileges are now too much because they allow shipping companies to use tools to manipulate the market," adding that the European Commission has not responded to the crisis so far, which is "confusing".

/ By TJ China Freight / Shipping

What are the reasons for the “ship grabbing battle”?

Recently, container freight has soared! The number of empty ships in the market has drastically reduced. In order to preserve space, container shipping companies have started to "grab ships" in the leasing market.

Under such circumstances, Mediterranean Shipping MSC, the world's second-largest container shipping company, even started the direct ship purchase model and purchased two container ships again. It is worth mentioning that this is the 11th ship purchased by the company in a short period of time.

Alphaliner said that the large container ships currently available are insufficient, and most shipping companies have set new records for daily rent. It is particularly noteworthy that even the classic Panamax vessel of 4,000-5,300 TEU, which has suffered "years of suffering", has now risen to an incredible level, which was unimaginable a few months ago.

Driven by strong market demand, container shipping companies have begun to find ways to mobilize all available container ships.

Industry insiders pointed out that the global container shipping market is reappearing in the situation of "a ship is hard to find and a box is hard to find". The mainstream shipping companies have booked space until late December, and it is predicted that high freight rates will continue until around the Spring Festival. High freight rates and high volumes will drive the explosive growth of shipping companies in the fourth quarter.

 

       What are the reasons for the "ship grabbing battle"?

 

The "biggest" title changes hands?

Recently, MSC has successively sold and purchased multiple container ships. It is imaginative: Is the title of the world's largest container shipping company changing?

In addition to the two new container ships purchased by MSC as mentioned above, MSC also recently purchased another larger 5,642 TEU Panamax container ship Granville Bridge (built in 2006) from Japanese owner Doun Kisen. ), and neither party has announced the selling price.

It is worth mentioning that the sister ship of Granville Bridge, Greenville Bridge, was also sold by Doun Kisen to MSC earlier this month, with a disclosed price of US$14 million.

At the same time as Greenville Bridge, MSC also purchased another 2510TEU feeder container vessel named Bomar Hermes.

At the end of last month, MSC also spent US$158 million to purchase six large container ships of 7,500-8500TEU from the German shipowner company.

Among them, MSC paid US$114 million for 4 ships of 8,200TEU-8,500TEU. These 4 ships were 8,200TEU ER Tianping and R Tianshan and 8,500TEU ER Tokyo and ER Texas. The above 4 ships Both were built in 2006.

And the 7,849TEU ER Vancouver built in 2003 and the ER Yokohama built in 2004, packaged for $44 million.

Two days before this, MSC also purchased another Panamax container ship called Baltic East from South Korea's Changjin Merchant Marine for US$10 million.

In other words, MSC "buy" 11 ships in more than 20 days.

In addition, industry insiders said that MSC is also very likely to sign a series of large orders for 23,000 teu container ships recently.

In contrast, Maersk, the world's largest shipping company, is very calm. Recently, Maersk released its financial report for the third quarter of this year. The company’s CEO Shi Suoren added when introducing the company’s third-quarter performance report that Maersk currently has no plans to build 20,000+ TEU ships. The company only stated that some of the 10,000 TEU to 15,000 TEU ships are aging and need to be replaced, because being the original owner is more cost-effective than chartering. The company will maintain the current fleet capacity of about 4 million TEUs.

Shi Suoren said, "We are very aware of the technical risks of currently ordering ships," he added.

Analysts from Copenhagen-based sea intelligence pointed out in a report released recently that MSC may soon replace Maersk and become the world's largest shipping company.

According to the latest data from Alphaliner, the current container ship capacity of Mediterranean Shipping is 3,855,684 TEU, and the company has 5 new large ships waiting for delivery. The total capacity of these 5 new ships is 115,000 TEU. After all ships are delivered, MSC’s The total capacity will reach 3970684TEU.

Maersk’s current operating capacity is 4094302 TEU, order capacity is 46140 TEU, and the total capacity including new ship orders is 4140442 TEU.

 

      What are the reasons for the "ship grabbing battle"?

Consolidation market is hot

The price of the container shipping market has continued to run at a high level recently. On November 13, the latest Shanghai Export Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) released by the Shanghai Shipping Exchange was 1857.33 points, an increase of 11.6% over the previous period. The SCFI index has hit a new high since the 2008 financial crisis.

Zhang Yongfeng, director of the International Shipping Research Institute of Shanghai International Shipping Research Center, analyzed to a reporter from China Securities News that the recent epidemic in Europe and the United States has rebounded sharply. Import demand for daily necessities is strong, market volume is rising, container supply is tight, and the spot market freight rate The sharp increase drove the comprehensive freight index to rise.

"November is generally the traditional off-season for container shipping. This year's market conditions have far exceeded expectations. At present, the container shipping market has relatively abundant cargo and higher freight rates, continuing the pre-hot trend." Zhang Yongfeng said.

Data from the China Ports Association show that my country's foreign trade imports and exports have continued to improve recently, especially exports have further accelerated. In early November, the container throughput of the eight major hub ports increased by 13.1% year-on-year, an increase of 6 percentage points from the previous period. The foreign trade container throughput of the eight hub ports increased by 11.5% year-on-year, and the domestic trade increased by 18.3% year-on-year, both significantly faster than the previous period. In terms of subregions, the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions have seen strong growth in foreign trade business, with Shanghai, Ningbo, Guangzhou and Shenzhen growing at over 10%. Among them, the growth rate of Ningbo Zhoushan Port reached 33%.

With strong demand in the container shipping market, international shipping freight prices have continued to rise since June this year, and shipping prices on European routes, Persian Gulf routes, and South American routes have all increased significantly. At the same time, the domestic export container freight index is also rising sharply.

Han Jun, chief analyst of CITIC Construction Investment Transportation, believes that from the current situation, most shipping companies have already booked the space in late December. On November 22, major routes such as the European route will still see a rise in freight rates. According to information from major liner companies, freight rates will remain at a high level before the Spring Festival. During the Spring Festival next year, the shipping company will implement the suspension plan as usual. The maintenance of freight rates at a high level after March is a high probability event.

Zhang Yongfeng believes that the reason for the recent boom in the shipping market is the result of multiple factors. On the one hand, due to the impact of the global epidemic, demand was suppressed in the first half of the year, and many businesses had the need to replenish inventory; on the other hand, a large number of epidemic prevention materials were exported, and the demand for home shopping in overseas markets increased. In addition, the poor turnover of shipping containers further pushed up freight rates.

In a recent survey conducted by investors, CIMC said: “Currently, our company’s container orders have been scheduled to around the Spring Festival next year. The demand in the container market has increased significantly recently. The reasons are that first, affected by the epidemic, exported containers are scattered all over the world. The return is not smooth; second, foreign governments have introduced financial stimulus such as the epidemic relief plan, which has led to super strong performance on the demand side (such as living and office supplies) in the short term, and the housing economy is booming. It is currently judged that the “lack of boxes” situation will continue for at least some time. But the whole year of next year is not clear."

CITIC Construction Investment Research Report believes that the fundamental reason is the continuous and rapid growth of the demand side. According to data from the Container Trade Statistics Corporation (CTS), the growth rate of global container shipping trade volume remained flat in July 2020, and cargo volume accelerated in August and September. The volume of cargo in September increased by nearly 8% year-on-year. Looking at the year-on-year growth rate of the east-west trunk routes, the demand on the two major routes continued to expand, and the US route even expanded to a growth rate of more than 20%.

The research report pointed out that in the medium term, the replenishment of inventory in the US retail and wholesale industry has not yet ended, and the inventory cycle will last for at least half a year, laying the foundation for continuous improvement in demand. The achievement of RCEP can significantly reduce tariffs and non-tariff trade barriers, further strengthen the position of the manufacturing center in the Far East, and lay the foundation for the growth of regional maritime trade. In addition, from the supply side, the proportion of shipbuilding orders held is at the lowest level in history. Even considering the impact of new shipbuilding, the delivery period will be after the second half of 2023, and there is no basis for large-scale launch of capacity.

"It is still hard to say that the shipping industry has recovered in an all-round way. Overall, the global epidemic is a bad factor for the shipping industry. The epidemic has changed the cycle of cargo shipments, and traditional shipping seasonal characteristics are not so obvious." Zhang Yongfeng said.

 

       What are the reasons for the "ship grabbing battle"?

Consolidation company makes a big profit

In the third quarter just past, the container shipping market experienced a shortage of containers and skyrocketing ocean freight. At the same time, all liner companies continue to implement strict capacity management and cost control. In this context, liner companies’ performance has increased significantly.

Despite the decline in cargo volume, through combing the performance of various liner companies, in the third quarter of 2020, the revenue of 10 major liner companies in the world is still higher than the same period last year. All 10 liner companies achieved profits in the third quarter, with a total profit of 3.412 billion U.S. dollars, which was less than 800 million U.S. dollars in the same period last year, which was 4.27 times the same period last year.

Among them, Maersk has the highest profit, reaching 1.043 billion US dollars, and it is also the only liner company with a profit of 1 billion. Evergreen Shipping's profit increased the most, with a year-on-year increase of nearly 60 times.

In addition, there are three liner companies that are particularly interesting.

Among them, Star Shipping's performance in the third quarter increased by 28 times. Who would have thought that this company was once on the verge of bankruptcy. More importantly, Star Shipping has seized this opportunity in the e-commerce market and opened multiple e-commerce routes this year, driving a substantial increase in performance.

In addition, Yangming Shipping ended its long-term loss and achieved quarterly profit for the first time. But at the end of September just before the announcement of the results, Yangming Shipping announced the retirement of its former chairman Xie Zhijian. But for this achievement, old coach Xie Zhijian contributed a lot.

Finally, HMM stabilized its profitability. HMM once ended 21 consecutive quarters of losses in the second quarter of this year. At that time, the industry had different views on whether it could continue to make profits in the third quarter. The market situation has created opportunities for HMM.

On the whole, with operating income basically remaining stable, the major liner companies have achieved profits several times or even dozens of times the same period last year, which can be said to have made a lot of money.

 

       What are the reasons for the "ship grabbing battle"?

Looking ahead to next year, the analysis agency Sea-Intelligence also changed its previous forecast, predicting that the pre-interest and tax (EBIT) of the container shipping industry in 2020 will reach 14.2 billion US dollars. In April of this year, the agency predicted that the impact of the epidemic might cost the entire shipping industry US$23 billion.

Sea-Intelligence said: "There is no doubt that the performance of liner companies in 2020 will not only far exceed last year, but even better than the level of the past 8 years."

This forecast conclusion is based on the increase in freight and freight volume.

Data from Container Trades Statistics shows that in the first nine months of 2020, global container shipping volumes have fallen by 3.4%. However, the cargo volume situation has reversed sharply in recent months. In September this year, the global container shipping volume has increased by 6.9%.

Based on this, Sea-Intelligence believes: "If this growth is maintained in the fourth quarter, the global container shipping volume will only fall by 0.8% in 2020."

After the end of the third quarter, some large liner companies such as Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd also raised their full-year profit expectations. CMA CGM also stated that the market will remain strong for the rest of this year.

Although most liner companies are still more cautious about the market prospects and believe that next year's situation is unpredictable, Drewry believes that despite the second wave of the epidemic, they have optimistic expectations for liner companies' earnings in 2021.

/ By TJ China Freight / Shipping

Freight rates on Asia-Europe routes rose 27% within a week

As analysts have always predicted, the spot freight rates on the Asia-Europe container trade routes have risen sharply. Compared with the booming Pan Pacific routes, the carnival comes later.

Stimulated by the surge in consumer demand, the supply of equipment was tight and the supply of equipment was limited. The freight rate announced by the Shanghai Container Freight Index (SCFI) rose by US$447/TEU to US$2091/TEU, a 27% increase in a week. The freight rate of the Asia-Mediterranean route has also risen sharply, rising by US$421 or 23% this week to US$2219 per TEU.

Today, most trade routes have also released data for a week. The freight rate from Asia to West Africa has increased by US$300 to US$4,459 per TEU; while the freight rate from Asia to the east coast of Latin America has soared by US$402 to 4,805 per TEU. Dollar.

At the same time, the freight rate in the Pacific region was flat this week, but still at a historical high.

According to recent data released by shipping reporting company Sea Intelligence, the capacity of trans-Pacific routes will increase by 27.3% year-on-year in December. However, in Asia and Europe, the deployment plans of these shipping companies show that capacity has only increased by 6.7% year-on-year. In recent months, many ships have diverted to more profitable trans-Pacific waters.

Earlier this week, Eytan Buchman of Freightos, an online container ordering platform, commented in a report to customers: “Because carriers prioritize trans-Pacific containers, some of them have shifted their shipping capacity to Asia from Europe. United States."

"The shortage of equipment and port congestion in the United States and the United Kingdom has made shippers miserable. There are reports that bookings have been rejected due to lack of empty containers, containers have been unloaded at other ports, and shippers have delayed bookings." Buchman added.

In recent months, the record freight environment has prompted many governments to intervene. The US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has expanded its investigation of liner activities, and India, China and South Korea have also recommended that routes control their sky-high charges.

/ By TJ China Freight / Shipping

The port in South Asia is in chaos and congestion.

It is reported that the Port of Colombo has a backlog of 50,000 teu of cargo, causing South Asian transshipment cargo into chaos.

In the past few weeks, the Sri Lankan capital has been locked down due to the epidemic, and since the beginning of October, the city’s container terminal labor shortage has caused serious congestion.

Today, this dilemma is affecting the supply chains of neighboring India and Bangladesh.

 

According to Rohan Masakorala, CEO of Shippers' Academy Colombo, the Port of Colombo has reduced the number of employees by about 30%, which has dealt a major blow to the efficiency of crane production and trucking between freight stations.

"The backlog of orders and goods is very large, and it may take six to eight weeks to clean up."

"Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT) mainly focuses on transshipment, while the other two terminals are responsible for feeder ships, so there is an urgent need for transshipment between terminals." He said.

"The lack of truck drivers means that containers are starting to accumulate in the storage area of ​​the port. This also means that it affects feeder ships, sometimes waiting for more than a week, and then even the mainline ships have to be delayed by one to two days."

 

▲Colombo port congestion: a backlog of 50,000 TEUs caused delays and increased freight rates

Masakorala said that given that Colombo handles approximately 600,000 TEUs per month, regional feeders and connectivity are being severely damaged, and carriers are forced to ship containers to India, Singapore and Dubai.

He added: “Of course, Colombo is not the only port affected by the new crown epidemic, but as a transshipment hub, the impact is much greater and the entire region will be affected. Even now, there are still 23 ships waiting for berths, and Usually the port receives 12-16 ships every day, so there are quite a lot of ships waiting at the window."

He explained that it is inevitable that Colombo’s freight has doubled, and shippers need to book eight weeks in advance to get a seat.

 

Masakorala said: “Some shippers have been waiting in Colombo for four weeks and two weeks in Singapore.” “Freight forwarders have been severely affected, so some urgent cargo must be transported by air or to a third port, which increases Cost and shipping time."

He added that, given that ports in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan are fully operational, there are now concerns that the port’s reputation may be damaged. Sri Lanka is ambitious and hopes to become a global shipping and logistics hub as famous as Dubai and Singapore. However, Mr. Masakorala said that the LCL loading and unloading and customs clearance and consolidation operations of FCL have been "seriously affected."

Recently, foreign trade forwarders who transshipped through this port have mainly paid attention to it, for fear of delays and additional costs.

Colombo handled 7.2 million TEUs in 2019, but Mr. Masakorala believes that the port’s throughput will drop by 10-20% this year.