- Blank Sailings and Declining Freight Rates: Weekly Analysis of Global Trade Routes.
- 10% of Scheduled Sailings Cancelled: Latest Insights on East-West Trade Routes.
- Storms and Port Strikes: Disruptions Impacting US Ports and Global Shipping Rates.
Our weekly Cancelled Sailings Tracker snapshots blank sailings announced by each shipping alliance against the total number of scheduled sailings. But for subscribers who want more detailed analysis, we also make available an annual subscription to our Container Capacity Weekly Insight, including trade patterns, performance of the alliances, and port waiting times for major hubs such as Los Angeles and Long Beach, among others, reports Drewry
Weekly Analysis: 18 October 2024
Between week 43 (21 October – 27 October) and week 47 (18 November – 24 November) the major East-West headhaul trades have seen the Transpacific, Transatlantic, and Asia-North Europe & Med see 70 cancelled sailings announced. Of 693 scheduled sailings this will mean that 10% of them have been cancelled.
Most of the blank sailings (61%) are on Transpacific Eastbound, followed by 24% on Asia-North Europe and Med trade, while 14% falls on Transatlantic Westbound.
Blank Sailings by Alliance
In the next five weeks, shipping alliances will cancel the following:
- The Alliance: 17.5 cancellations
- OCEAN Alliance: 14.5 cancellations
- 2M Alliance: 11 cancellations
- Non-Alliance services: 27 blank sailings
As demonstrated in the graph (not available), schedule reliability is up and 90% of vessels are expected to sail time against time within five weeks.
Freight Rate Drooping
Container spot freight from Asia continued on a downtrend. On 17 October, Drewry’s WCI Composite Index dropped 4% week-on-week to $3,216 per 40ft container. Transpacific rates declined 2%, Asia-North Europe/Med rates dropped 8%, while Transatlantic rates remained constant.
Following this uptick, shipping rates should fall as the slack season sets in, simply because carriers had yet to fine-tune their capacity as of press time. And with cargo demand lower, fine-tuning probably won’t come without a steeper rate drop.
Weather and Strikes Force Changes at US Ports
Recent troubles shifted from the threatened port strike to storms impacting southern US ports, forcing temporary closing of ports in Florida. Although Port Tampa Bay has reopened partially, Miami and Jacksonville reopened last week. The actual strike had very little impact because supply chain operators were very well-prepared and congestion at East and Gulf Coast ports is slowly easing.
More Shipment Insights
We have a variety of services on research and advisory work tailored to international shippers, ranging from these service components:
- Contract advice
- Freight rate forecasts
- Surcharge insights
These services help to lower the commercial challenges people are facing in an open crisis, such as what is happening in the Red Sea region.
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Source: Dreary
