According to industry sources, trunk line operators hope that freight rates from Asia to the West Coast of the United States will rise in mid-August to reverse the recent market situation.

 

Maersk recently adjusted the price of wk33, and the freight rate of large containers was reduced to US$7,400 to cope with the sluggish booking demand for large containers at US$7,600 from Shanghai to Ouki Port in the early stage.

 

Subsequently, as the booking volume recovered, the price has steadily recovered to about US$7,800. MSC followed suit and announced that it would reduce the quotation of large containers to US$8,240 from August 8. As far as the current situation is concerned, the pace of price adjustment of shipping companies on the European route has accelerated but the decline is relatively slow. However, the US route is different.

 

According to foreign media reports, major route operators plan to adjust freight rates from Asia to the West Coast of the United States in mid-August to cope with recent market fluctuations and seek to offset the impact of previous adjustments.

 

It is reported that since August 15, several shipping companies have announced that they will increase the freight rate of each 40-foot container by US$1,000, aiming to curb the continuous decline in freight rates on this route in the past three weeks.

 

According to the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index, freight rates from Shanghai to the West Coast of the United States fell about 7% from the previous week to an average of $6,663/FEU, but were still higher than $1,943 a year ago.

 

Shipping consultancy Linerlytica pointed out in its report: "Carriers' resolve will be severely tested as recent capacity increases on the Asia-US West Corridor and Mexico routes have tilted the previously tight market supply and demand balance, with capacity utilization declining despite strong peak season freight demand."

 

 

It is worth noting that the third quarter, as the traditional peak freight season, continued to grow strongly, but the recent launch of new routes, such as SeaLead Shipping's AWC and various temporary USWC routes, have increased the route's capacity by more than 15%.

 

Linerlytica estimates that the total number of ships currently sailing on the route has reached 306, with a carrying capacity of more than 2.58 million TEUs, an increase of 14% compared with the same period last year.

 

Meanwhile, rates from Asia to the East Coast of the United States also fell, down 2% from the previous week, averaging $9,557 per 40ft, while capacity on the route remained roughly the same as last year at over 2.75 million TEUs.

 

Rates from Asia to Europe remained stable, with little change, averaging $4,991 per 40ft, as tight capacity compensated for reduced volumes. This stability is mainly due to tight capacity compensating for reduced volumes.

 

Linerlytica noted that although vessel utilization on the (Asia to North Europe) route has fallen from its peak in May-June, capacity remains tight in the market, with poor weather conditions and congestion leading to a large number of ships crossing the North Europe and Mediterranean routes and a decline in sailing schedules.

 

Some additional loading sailings have also been cancelled, such as CMA CGM's French Peak Service, which was originally scheduled to open in September, which has been reduced to four sailings from seven sailings, an adjustment aimed at responding to seasonal demand changes.