Even if the Asia / Europe freight rates are eroding, from a carrier’s perspective, some port pairs like Qingdao / Hamburg are doing well considering the circumstances.
Several elements contribute to this situation:
- The Golden Week, commemorating the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, will take place this year, during the first week of October. Considering the anticipated slowdown of the economy during this period, shippers are protecting themselves against this phenomenon by securing capacities, therefore boosting
demand.
- The big M2 alliance is not the most aggressive on this port pair in terms of transit time, compared to the other 2 alliances (Ocean Alliance and THE Alliance).
- The German Retail sector is doing rather well, and continues to expand towards Eastern Europe.
- It’s a good time to be onboard, right before the additional Very Low Sulfur contract talks re-open.
Historical view on average rates (Port to Port with THC) estimated by Upply over the past 24 months – Last update : Septembre 4th, 2019
Credit: Photo by Max Kukurudziak on Unsplash