A year ago, shippers were desperate to agree annual contract deals with ocean carriers to secure their supply chains, and were prepared to do, and pay, ‘whatever it took’. And carriers were holding ‘beauty contests’ to determine the most attractive large-volume BCOs to be included in their exclusive customer portfolios. But 12 months on, the container liner shipping market has…
As container lines fail to support falling spot rates in the second half of 2022, next year could bring an all-out price war as contract rates follow spot rates down. Online container logistics platform Container xChange said a drop in demand through 2022 had brought a significant oversupply of containers, which is set to worsen in 2023 with more boxes…
COSCO Shipping Lines has withdrawn its express China-Canada-US intermodal service that was launched in October 2021, as carriers continue to trim capacity to respond to falling demand. Container News was informed that the CEN-EXPRESS service had its last sailing when the Xin Ying Kou arrived at Prince Rupert on 29 November. The service used five 4,250 TEU ships to move containers…
Container volumes grew by double digits at Port Houston in October. A total of 371,994 TEUs were handled by the port during the last month, translating to a 13% increase compared to October 2021. Loaded containers reached the highest volume ever and were up 21% compared to the same month last year. Overall, container volumes from January to October at…
The largest container shipping alliance, 2M Alliance has announced the temporal suspension of its TP23/Liberty service and the addition of the port of Charleston call to TP17/ America service. The two members of the alliance, Maersk and MSC said this is a move that aims to adjust container capacity “in line with the slowing demand on the Transpacific US East…
The National Retail Federation is forecasting that US This Year’s Holiday spending will be healthy this year despite inflationary challenges and consumers shifting back to services from goods. The NRF estimates that holiday retail sales are actually expected to grow in November and December at between 6% and 8% over 2021, to reach between $942.6 billion and $960.4 billion. Last…
As 2M Alliance’s TP1/Maple and TP9/Eagle services have been inconsistent in terms of departure frequency and extended transit times, according to 2M Alliance of Maersk and MSC, the two container giants have decided to merge them into an updated TP1/Maple line. The first sailing of the new consolidated TP1/Maple service will be on 28 October and will begin from the…
Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has announced alterations in its intra-Asia service network, which will include new products and upgraded services that will come into effect by the next month. As part of this latest revamp of the network, MSC has announced the launch of a new service, named Dolphin, which will offer connection from China to Indonesia and between Indonesia,…
The 4,675 TEU container vessel MSC Rochelle called Port Everglades on 30 September, marking the connection of the major port in Florida with the Far East via a direct container service for the first time since 2011. The world’s largest box line Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) launched its new Zephyr service this summer with direct weekly connections from northern China and South…
Consumers in the United States are shrugging off concerns about high inflation and interest rate hikes and continuing to spend, the National Retail Federation said Monday. Despite lower consumer confidence, spending held up better than expected in August as overall retail sales reported by the U.S. Census Bureau grew 0.3% from July and 9.1% compared to last year. While year-over-year…
