• 2023 July 31 12:53

    Long-term ocean freight rates hit two-year low

    Global long-term shipping rates sank to a two-year low in July, with the latest data from Xeneta’s Shipping Index (XSI) showing a fall of 9.5% since June, adding to a deep collapse that started last year. Long-term valid contract rates have now lost 57.8% of their value since the same period in 2022.
     
    Xeneta’s real-time data, crowd-sourced from leading global shippers, makes bleak viewing for carriers with rates falling on all the main trading corridors. Xeneta market analyst Emily Stausbøll points out that market indications also show there will be little respite on the horizon for carriers.
     
    ‘Carriers waiting for higher volumes in July, and in the coming months due to peak season, look increasingly likely to be disappointed,’ says Stausbøll. ‘Even if volumes do increase, and whatever happens to demand, overcapacity is now inevitable as these record numbers of new ships being delivered this year will have a wide-reaching effect,’ adds Stausbøll.
     
    The figures show an alarming situation unfolding for carriers as June saw the highest ever monthly deliveries of new ships, with more than 300 000 TEU of capacity from a total of 40 new ships added to the market. In the first six months of the year, a total of 990 000 TEU was delivered, with around the same to come in the second half of 2023.
     
    Low demand is still the underlying factor affecting rates and the figures for July were gloomy across the board. The XSI® for Far East exports fell by just 2.7% to 188.62 in July, but this is now the lowest this index has been since April 2021, and a 69.5% drop from July last year.
     
    European Imports were down by 12.0% from the previous month and this sub-index is now down by 52.7% since the start of this year. A slight fall of 2.9% in the XSI® for US imports has brought the index to 231.6 points in July. ‘This is the only index still above 200, or still more than twice as expensive as the average rate in January 2017,’ explains Stausbøll.
     
    ‘On all but three of the XSI® sub-indices, the averages of all valid long-term rates have dropped by more than 50% compared to a year ago,’ says Stausbøll. ‘The average shipper on the main trades should be paying less than half the rates they were a year ago on the long-term market. Despite an increase in volumes from previous months, global container demand remains down year on year.
     
    Just as the threat of strikes at US West Coast ports was averted after a deal was signed, a new twist in port labor relations has jumped to the fore. The Canadian chapter of the ILWU went on strike in July, disrupting imports through the ports of Prince Rupert and Vancouver and a considerable slice of the US market.
     
    Xeneta is the leading ocean and air freight rate benchmarking and market analytics platform transforming the shipping and logistics industry. Xeneta’s powerful reporting and analytics platform provides liner-shipping stakeholders the data they need to understand current and historical market behavior – reporting live on market average and low/high movements for both short and long-term contracts. Xeneta’s data is comprised of over 350 million contracted container and air freight rates and covers over 160,000 global ocean trade routes and over 40,000 airport-airport connections. Xeneta is a privately held company with headquarters in Oslo, Norway and regional offices in New York and Hamburg.




2024 May 20

18:00 ADNOC secures equity position and LNG offtake agreement in NextDecades Rio Grande LNG Project
17:31 EDGE Group and Fincantieri formalise MAESTRAL shipbuilding JV and announce 400 mln euro order for 10 naval vessels
17:02 Genevos awarded European Commission funding for hydrogen fishing vessel demonstrator in ‘H2-SEAS’ consortium
16:43 MAI to invest in ship investment fund managed by Navigare Capital Partners
16:29 Three year collaboration between EMEC and FloWave offers wave and tidal energy developers ‘try-before-you-buy’ site simulation capability
15:58 IndustriAll Europe and SEA Europe agree on joint priorities ahead of the 2024 EU elections
14:51 Fincantieri shipyard launches Logistic Support Ship ‘Atlante’ for the Italian Navy's fleet
13:24 MOL Cruises announces the six inaugural cruises of MITSUI OCEAN FUJI
12:21 Deltamarin designs CO2 carrier of Ecolog
11:50 Tsakos Energy Navigation plans to invest $2 billion to create a 100% green fleet by 2030
11:23 Horizon Tankers order six newbuilds in China
10:55 Turkish-owned cargo ship sinks off Romania
10:15 Serica Energy receives final approval from the NSTA to develop the 100% owned and operated Belinda field

2024 May 19

15:43 RWE, Masdar award geophysical surveys contract for DBS West offshore wind farm
14:27 Intesa Sanpaolo and Fincantieri for the energy transition of maritime and air transport
14:03 MSC Cruises to expand at Port Canaveral with the arrival of the MSC Grandiosa
13:56 Noatum launches maritime services in Türkiye
12:44 New Pipeline Transition Alliance to focus on re-purposing natural gas infrastructure to hydrogen service
11:29 Yantai CIMC Raffles Offshore Ltd. shipyard launches dual-fuel offshore installation vessel for Van Oord
11:23 Major Scottish export terminal invests £750,000 to boost refrigerated cargo capabilities
10:12 Jan De Nul orders new XL cable-laying vessel

2024 May 18

15:24 SNAM's Q1 total revenues declined 1.9% to 895 million euros
14:17 KOTUG Int'l successfully pilots Tug Drone technology
12:04 Austal USA names Mark Santamaria as CFO
11:36 Silver Ships delivers four of seven coastal fast response boats
09:51 CMA CGM posts revenue of 11.8 billion for Q1 2024

2024 May 17

18:10 Bunker fuel sales at the Middle Eastern hub of Fujairah drop on a monthly basis in April 2024
17:52 Lloyd’s Register and Shandong Marine Group sign MoU
16:43 China reveals cooperation methods to protect and restore the Yangtze River
16:03 APM Terminals Barcelona holds the commissioning of 17 Konecranes NSC 644 EHY hybrid straddle carriers
15:13 Marine fuel demand in Panama declined in April 2024
14:43 MITSUI E&S and PACECO commence commercial operations of world's first hydrogen fuel cell zero emission RTG crane at Port of Los Angeles
14:23 ILWU Canada agrees to delay serving 72-hour strike notice on employer DP World Canada
13:31 Barge hits a bridge in Texas, damaging the structure and causing an oil spill
13:10 Container shipping costs on EU-S. Korea route surge over 30 pct amid Red Sea crisis
12:43 DP World invests €130m in Romania
12:21 Astrakhan hosts Russia-Iran talks on shipping cooperation on International North-South corridor
11:41 Seatrium awarded repeat FPSO integration contract from SBM Offshore
11:04 Bureau Veritas report highlights the potential of carbon capture technologies and the development of carbon value chains for shipping
10:41 Electramar christened in Helsinki
10:07 IMO Secretary-General spotlights seafarer safety amidst ongoing Red Sea attacks and resurging piracy
09:58 MABUX: Bunker Outlook, Week 20, 2024

2024 May 16

18:11 Kongsberg and Torghatten to develop self-driving ferry service linking Trondheim and the Fosen peninsula
17:42 “K” Line сonducts first trial use of B100 biofuel for carbon-free operations on car carrier
16:35 Deltamarin and ECOLOG unveil LP LCO2 carrier design
15:40 Seadrill enters agreement to sell its Qatar jack-up fleet
15:24 Scan Global Logistics and Hapag-Lloyd enter into major biofuel agreement in a new Green Collaboration
14:48 Edison Chouest feeder fleet for U.S. offshore wind market to be built to ABS Class
14:03 The Australian Government announces a funding package of $7.1 billion for budgeted programs to be administered by ARENA
13:54 The share of the idle container vessel fleet was 0.9% in April - Sea-Intelligence
13:25 The European Commission grants PCI status to CO2 value chain project developed by MOL with partners
12:14 HHLA's revenue decreased by 0.3 percent to € 363.6 millions in Q1 2024
11:42 MOL and TotalEnergies sign time charter contracts for 2 newbuilding LPG-fueled LPG carriers
10:40 Kalmar and Uniport Livorno agree on new terminal tractor order to enhance reliability, safety and service quality at Italian terminal
10:04 AMSA collaborates on a trial providing more recycling options for visiting foreign ships
09:59 SunGas Renewables and C2X announce strategic partnership

2024 May 15

18:07 MOL holds naming ceremony for newbuilding LNG carrier Greenergy Ocean to serve China National Offshore Oil Corporation
17:30 ClassNK and StormGeo mark significant collaboration to advance maritime decarbonization
17:02 Newly certified methanol valves to improve dual-fuel shipbuilding
16:45 HD KSOE to lease Subic shipyard in Philippines
16:25 Eidsvaag receives two forage carrier vessels designed and equipped by Kongsberg Maritime
15:58 ADNOC delivers first ever bulk shipment of CCS-enabled certified low-carbon ammonia to Japan
15:35 World's 1st wind challenger-equipped coal carrier achieves fuel savings of 17%
14:57 LR to support the retrofit of two Stena Line ferries to methanol
13:52 Port of Los Angeles nets record $58 million for harbor maintenance
13:32 CMA CGM to launch MCX - West Coast Central America
12:51 Port of Long Beach cargo volumes up 14.4% in April
12:21 First Ro-Pax vessel receives DNV Silent notation following successful sea trials with Wartsila propellers
11:41 Hapag-Lloyd transport volumes increased by 6.8 percent to 3 million TEU in Q1 2024
11:10 Cavotec signs two-year service agreement with Port of Salalah