BAROMETER. In a context of sluggish demand, freight rates in container shipping are falling or at best stabilising depending on the market. The most profitable segments are affected.
Highlights of the month
After a period of calm, Houthis attacks on commercial ships resumed violently in July, with two ships sunk and at least four crew members killed. This resurgence of attacks has put at risk the prospect of a return of container traffic via the Suez Canal in the second half of the year. War risk surcharges to cross the Strait of Bab-el Mandeb are soaring again.
This situation, however, did not prevent ships belonging to the car manufacturer BYD from using this route without incident. On July 15, the BYD X'IAN ro-ro ship passed through the Suez Canal on its maiden voyage between Singapore and Italy, and a few days earlier, on June 27, the BYD HEFEI did the same. "We expect the tonnage of vehicle carriers transiting through the Canal to increase by at least 20% in the second half of 2025 compared to the first half of the same year" said Admiral Osama Rabiee, Chairman and CEO of the Suez Canal Authority. A move that has led observers to question the guarantees obtained by the Chinese company to transport such high-value goods, at the same time as the attacks were resuming.
On July 27, 2025, the United States and the European Union...
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