“Transatlantic shippers can look forward to an increase in capacity on the trade, as both the 2M and THE alliances introduce larger ships…”

“As China’s Golden Week national holiday comes to an end, container shipping spot rates on the main east-west trades have remained flat…”

“Ocean carriers are continuing with their “cautious” approach to capacity management, announcing a new series of blanked sailings in October…”

“The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) has continued on its bull run this week, its comprehensive index ticking up another 16 points today to 1,184, which is 53% higher than a year ago…”

“Despite the pandemic, the San Pedro Bay ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach saw strong container imports in July, with the better-than-expected volumes set to continue this month…”

“September’s available container capacity is expected to rise 7% year on year, snapping six straight months of lower-than-usual capacities, eeSea said, noting available capacity in May was down 22% on year…”

“Container spot freight rates on the transpacific trades leapt this week, with prices from Asia to US west coast ports sailing way above $3,000 per feu – and looking set to jump higher…”

“Container space tightness in India is expected to ease from September as imports rebound after a nationwide lockdown to contain the coronavirus, delivering more containers to India's ports, market sources said…”

“Transatlantic demand continues to be hit by the pandemic, obliging carriers to extend voyage-blanking programmes and putting rates under pressure…”

“Copenhagen-based eeSea.com provides FreightWaves with data on carrier blank sailings based on U.S. arrival date. The latest data shows that sailing cancellations remain relatively high on the Europe-U.S. westbound route, averaging 7.3% in the third quarter versus 9.3% in the second quarter…”

“According to eeSea data, at the peak of the sailing cancellations in May, carriers removed over a quarter of the 130 scheduled sailings, but for August the void sailings now represent only 10% of the advertised 136 voyages…”

“More evidence has emerged on how differently the three main container shipping alliances on the Asia-North Europe trade are to manage capacity for the remainder of the year…”

“Ocean container rates remain exceptionally high but may have finally hit their ceiling. Spot rates have not only stopped rising, they’ve pulled back by single digits…”

“Asia-West Coast spot rates (SONAR: FBXD.CNAW) were $2,776 per forty-foot equivalent unit (FEU) as of Monday, according to the Freightos Baltic Daily Index. That’s up around 70% versus the past two years and more than double late-February lows…”

“The battle for Asian containerized exports rages on between West and East Coast ports. The East had been steadily gaining ground, but COVID-19 is changing the balance in favor of the West, at least in the short term…”

“According to eeSea data, carriers blanked 25 (13%) of the scheduled 199 sailings on the transatlantic in May and have cancelled 17 (9%) of the advertised 187 sailings in June…”

“Data provided to FreightWaves by Copenhagen-based eeSea shows that only 3% of arrivals in the U.S. from China have been canceled so far for the third quarter, versus 14% for the second quarter…”

“Blank sailings have accounted for around 15% of active twenty foot equivalent unit, or TEU, capacity since the coronavirus hit at the start of this year but this is now easing, according to the latest research by eeSea, a platform that maps, measures and predicts container industry schedules…”

“Detailed trans-Pacific blank-sailing data is provided to FreightWaves by Copenhagen-based eeSea. The latest data, calculated based on the arrival date in the U.S., not the departure date from Asia, shows a stark difference in scheduling in the third quarter versus the second…”

“International ocean carriers entered 2020 with an expense problem and a profit problem…”