Major container lines have devised new strategies to serve customers in the Indian subcontinent region, while continuing to capitalise on high-premium cargo needing larger tonnage.
Multiple services
MSC has launched multiple services for Asian trades, as long-haul capacity becomes acutely tight and vessel schedules suffer from the challenges of congestion at hub ports in the Far East.
Among the new regional connections is a South-east India-China string, Osprey, on a rotation of Shanghai, Ningbo, Singapore, Colombo, Ennore, Visakhapatnam and Shanghai.
Scheduled to begin from Shanghai on 23 July, the carrier claimed the service offered competitive transits out of Ningbo for Indian importers: 15 days to Ennore; 17 days to Visakhapatnam; and 19 days to Kolkata, via Visakhapatnam.
MSC has also enhanced its Bengal shuttle loop out of Bangladesh for its intra-Asia trade expansion, now on a rotation of Qingdao, Ningbo, Shanghai, Chattogram (Chittagong), Singapore, Tanjung Pelepas and Qingdao.
MSC’s regional connectivity push is also nudging into other Asian markets with a Central China-Vietnam loop, named Saola, and a Japan-South Korea string called Kaguya.
Meanwhile, French carrier CMA CGM is set to begin a shuttle service connecting Singapore, Chennai and Colombo, with the first sailing of the IEX2 planned for tomorrow, from Singapore.
New material imports
Indian manufacturers rely heavily on raw material imports from the Far East, particularly China – a critical supply chain that has taken a severe hit in recent weeks due to the ocean capacity problems and widespread port congestion, with Singapore the biggest pain point.
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Source: Loadstar
