15 Jan 2023

US imports sink in September, steepest drop since 2020 lockdowns

First came the pullback in spot shipping rates from their historic peak. Then came reports of plunging Asian bookings and mass retail order cancellations, with spot rates falling even faster. Now, all of this is finally showing up at America’s ports. According to Descartes, which aggregates U.S. Customs data, inbound volumes to all U.S. ports totaled […]

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15 Jan 2023

Trade Growth to Slow Sharply in 2023: WTO

  Global merchandise trade is set to slow next year, facing headwinds ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine, high energy costs in Europe and the tightening of U.S. monetary policy leading to higher manufacturing costs and squeezing households, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said The WTO said it expects trade growth to only increase 1% […]

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15 Jan 2023

Spot Rates Continue to Decline in Jumpy Airfreight Market

General airfreight spot rates fell -9% year-on-year in September, below the 2021 level for the first time this year, as growing global cargo capacity continues to outpace air cargo volumes, CLIVE Data Services reported. Niall van de Wouw, chief airfreight officer at Xeneta said there are “no indications” demand will increase again. He noted some […]

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14 Jan 2023

Contrary to Ocean Carrier Expectations, Container Spot Rates Tumble

  Several shipping liner executives predicted a gradual decline in spot container rates levels during their latest quarterly calls. Maersk CFO Patrik Jany said it would be a “progressive erosion” not “a one-day drop”, while Matson CEO Matt Cox noted rates were “adjusting slowly” and not “falling off a cliff”. Yet, container spot rates appear […]

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14 Jan 2023

Has the Bottom Dropped Out of the Air Cargo Market?

Several major air cargo operators are signaling an anticipated drop in demand or a flattening of the capacity requirements which characterized the pandemic. According to IATA’s latest industry update, air cargo capacity in June and July were tracking close to pre-pandemic levels but was measured against lowered demand which contracted by -5% year-on-year in August, […]

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14 Jan 2023

Warnings of Capacity Withdrawal by Ocean Carriers as Spot Rates Sink

Container spot freight rates have taken on double-digit declines week-on-week on some of the major trades. The Trans-Pacific Eastbound Asia-U.S. West Coast trade is around 80% lower than at the same point last year according to the Freightos Baltic Index (FBX). Further, the shift of U.S. import volumes from West to East Coast ports was […]

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14 Jan 2023

Trans-Atlantic Outpaces Trans-Pacific as Most Lucrative Trade

The latest 2Q2022 findings of the Container Shipping Market Quarterly Review produced by MDS Transmodal and Global Shippers Forum (GSF), noted that average earnings per container carried had fallen for the first time since 2020. Total container carryings in the second quarter of 2022 also remained lower than the year-ago level in the same period. […]

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