Shipping lines are refusing to lay up ships in spite of over-capacity in the market.  They have implemented freight increases, but there is no guarantee that customers will continue to accept this, and forecasts for the year ahead are not optimistic. A recently published report forecasts that east-west freight rates including fuel will rise by [...]

Shipping lines based in France, represented by Armateurs de France (AdF), says the EU directive on reducing sulphur emissions to 0.1% would seriously threaten French shipping companies.  The directive affects the SOx Emission Control Areas (SECAs) of the Baltic Sea, North Sea and the Channel to 0.1% from 1 January 2015. Shipping companies argue that the [...]

Shippping lines are facing a difficult year this year but many are surprisingly optimistic.  Over capacity remains a problem, but planning for the future is dangerous as economic prospects remain unpredictable. Financing and operating costs are expected to increase, and many owners will be trying to re-neogtiate their finance deals.

Although export handling problems with Ghana have been reported in the trade press, three shipping groups are set to continue collecting from there and use Amsterdam as their hub. Ghana is the world’s second largest producer of cocoa after the Ivory Coast, and the main season is just about to begin. The Ghana Docks and [...]

Industry leaders are warning that 2012 will be a difficult year for freight and shipping. The chairman of one of Hong Kong’s best-known logistics and transport service companies,said that decreasing rates for Asia to USA containers suggest tough times for shipping companies in particular. The freight rate for shipping a 40-foot container from Hong Kong [...]

Freight rates for containers between the USA West Coast and China are rising, according to the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index. This could be a reaction to reduced capacity on the route, as shipping lines remove vessels in response to lower world demand. In contrast, the Shanghai-Rotterdam freight rate and the China-Europe rates are reducing. Indications [...]

One of the world’s major shipping lines has announced a new service from Asia to Europe which will ‘guarantee’ a sailing every day at the same time, with a guaranteed arrival time.   From next month, the service will operate as a giant ocean conveyor belt, and will compensate customers if containers are not delivered [...]

One of the world’s major shipping lines has announced that profitability is suffering as higher volumes were offset by increased fuel costs and competition. Container shipping rates are under pressure because there are now more ships sailing the seas and the future will be difficult.  Rates for containers have been especially volatile, and various measures [...]

The world wide economic climate resulting in lacking consumer confidence has meant that orders for consumer goods are falling below expectations, and ships are sailing below capacity.  Carriers on the Asia-US container lines usually introduce surcharges around mid-June.  But this year, the surcharges have been delayed because the main routes have excess shipping capacity. The [...]

Freight rates on shipping lines operating services from Asia to Europe seem to be on the rise, in spite of the fact that ships have been operating below full capacity.  Spot market prices from Shanghai increased by $17 per tonne last week compared to the week before. Cargo volumes have been gradually increasing, with ship [...]

The balance between the supply of ships and demand for space has become more and more unstable since 2009, according to a specialist shipping analyst.  They expect this volatility to remain in force for about the next four years. There are a number of reasons for this: firstly, shipping lines are taking time to adjust [...]

Having announced last week that they would impose a freight increase on the Asia Europe route in August, shipping lines have revealed that spot rates have fallen on average.  The Shanghai Containerised Freight Index showed that rates declined from 809 dollars per tonne two weeks ago,  to 800 dollars per tonne. Shipping line hope that [...]

The Entry Summary Declaration came into force on 1 July.  The ENS contains information such as the Bill of Lading number, shipper and consignee name and address and must be logged with the shipping line 24 hours before the goods are shipped for long distance destinations, and two hours before entry at the ship’s first [...]

A shipping industry analyst recently carried out an experiment, to find out how interested shipping lines are in providing a service to small importers.  The company asked for quotes for 40 ft containers carrying garden equipment from Asia to Europe.  They sent out 33 rate requests by email; only nine companies provided a quotation, and [...]