Newsletter – March 26, 2024

AIR FREIGHT UPDATES

Asia Pacific export tonnages and rates continue to rise
aircargoweek.com
Air cargo tonnages and Asia Pacific rates continue to rise five weeks after the Lunar New Year (LNY) dip in early February. Disruptions to container shipping and strong demand for cross-border e-commerce shipments continue to boost volumes and prices. Read more here.

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

Ripples from bridge collapse will give importers a headache
theloadstar.com
From a container supply chain perspective, the effect from this morning’s incident will probably not be as dramatic as Baltimore’s bridge collapse itself – although it does leave carriers and east coast importers with potential headaches.
Baltimore handles around 1.1m teu a year which, as Verspucci Maritime’s Lars Jensen calculates, is equivalent to 21,000 teu a week that will need to find alternative gateways. And while it may not be the largest in terms of container numbers, the port does have … Read more here.

Could the Dali have suffered a power loss before bridge crash?
theloadstar.com
Maersk vessel Dali may have suffered a loss-of-propulsion (LoP) as it approached the supporting pillar of the Baltimore Francis Scott Key Bridge, taking down a large section of the continuous truss bridge last night.
Video footage shows lights at the bow and along the length of the 9,000 teu vessel going dark for 11 seconds, before light is restored – presumably via backup power – much closer to the Francis Scott Bridge. Read more here (login required).

THEA’s ONE and Yang Ming set on contrasting courses for growth
theloadstar.com
THE Alliance members ONE and Yang Ming appear to be adopting different growth strategies ahead of the departure of Hapag-Lloyd next February, when the German carrier will partner with Maersk in the new Gemini alliance.
The Japanese carrier’s ONE2030 main business strategy last week highlighted a plan to invest $25bn in its container shipping business and target a fleet expansion from the current 1.8m teu to 3m teu over the six-year period. Read more here (login required).

Bunker indices on an upward trend
container-news.com
During the twelfth week of the year, the Marine Bunker Exchange (MABUX) global bunker indices experienced a consistent upward trajectory.
The 380 HSFO index climbed by US$11.49 to US$547.67/MT. Similarly, the VLSFO index saw a gain of US$15.95, reaching US$693.06/MT, nearing the US$700 threshold. Additionally, the MGO index surged by US$18.91 to US$914.15/MT, surpassing the US$900 mark. Read more here.

GROUND FREIGHT UPDATES

Shippers face hike in German rail freight costs as state subsidy is cut
theloadstar.com
Amid the looming break-up of DB Schenker’s freight division, shippers using Germany’s railways also now face a very real hike in charges.
Citing increased vendor costs, Maersk this morning announced that, from 1 April it would impose a €9 ($9.73) per teu “rail infrastructure surcharge” Read more here.