Written by Jerome de Ricqles

Exclusive analysis on freight transport, supply chain and international trade topics

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Jerome de Ricqles

Expert in Ocean shipping for 25 years, Jerome puts all his knowledge of the industry to contribution for Upply. Ship captain at heart, he has written the English-French Lexicon of Containerized Shipping (Paris: CELSE, 2001).

Freight rates go into overdrive in June

Ocean freight rates continued to rise in June on all major routes. A soft landing is starting to look likely, however, in the summer. Like excessive heat in spring, the month of June seems to have caused the last ramparts of reason in the container shipping market to melt away.
Jerome de Ricqles
July 21 2021
2 min

Second half scenarios for the container shipping market

The sharp rise in container shipping freight rates should peak in the summer but everything indicates that they will stabilise at high levels. Last January, when we made our traditional start of the year forecasts, we came up with three hypotheses for the container shipping market in 2021:
Jerome de Ricqles
July 06 2021
5 min

Freeing up of Ever Given: our advice to importers

The container ship Ever Given should soon be able to sail again, as a financial agreement is in sight. Affected importers must prepare for this deadline. A financial agreement seems to be in the process of being concluded between SCA, the managing authority of the Suez Canal, and Shoei Kisen, the ow...
Jerome de Ricqles
June 29 2021
2 min

Ocean freight rates continue to climb

Ocean freight rates continued to rise in May on all the main East-West markets. The rise is being fuelled by strong Western demand against a background of growing uncertainty and concern about the feasibility of transport operations. The United States and, with the exception of Germany, Europe are c...
Jerome de Ricqles
June 23 2021
2 min

Will low value cargo return to conventional ships?

Some low added value goods have been able to switch to container ships in recent years, thanks to low freight rates. Soaring transport prices in 2020 have changed the situation, however. So-called "poor" merchandise, which is to say goods of low value per cubic metre or tonne, were late coming to co...
Jerome de Ricqles
June 09 2021
4 min

What should shipping companies do with their exceptional profits?

Ocean freight rates have stayed at astronomically high levels for longer than expected on all the major trade routes. The shipping companies are generating exceptional revenues and these can help them to respond to a number of challenges. The well-tried method of clinically adjusting capacity to mat...
Jerome de Ricqles
June 03 2021
4 min

The rise in ocean freight rates goes global

The rise in freight rates is continuing and is now affecting virtually all maritime trade routes. Demand, meanwhile, is showing no sign of weakening. After the main East-West markets, the North-South and cross-trade markets are now experiencing a significant increase in freight rates. Only on the ea...
Jerome de Ricqles
May 18 2021
2 min

Port terminals under pressure

Industrial relations are becoming increasingly strained in port terminals, which are being hit hard by the current disorganisation of the shipping lines. This poses a risk which the shipping companies should not take lightly. Container terminals need visibility to be able to plan their work and pers...
Jerome de Ricqles
May 04 2021
2 min

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