Box freight rates entered third quarter on a roll. Relentless rate rises show no signs of easing. With port congestion now sucking up capacity again, space remains tight. Carriers are pushing through rate increases as demand remains strong.

According to a report by ms. Lisa Hughes (Jordex Group NL), FAK rates in Far East to Europe trade are still increasing every two weeks ( currently USD 8420 ).No sign of changing any time soon – info from POL’s is that they are totally full for the foreseeable weeks. Singapore and Thailand are completely overbooked with rolling pools. No improvement is forecasted any time soon.

Managing freight spend the main concern as Red Sea crisis drags on. Managing freight spend is the biggest concern for shippers and forwarders, as the supply chain volatility driving ocean rate hikes appears to have no end in sight.  
Maersk withdraws from DB Schenker bidding.Container giant said the deal was ‘not the right thing to do for our business’. Maersk was interested in purchasing DB Schenker and was one of the shortlisted buyers for the logistics company. But now is not the right time, it says.

Panama Canal increases draught limit and transit slots.The neopanamax locks celebrate their eighth birthday with an extra booking slot. The Panama Canal Authority continues to increase capacity at the drought-stricken waterway as water levels at Gatun lake continue to increase.

MSC bids for 15% stake in Genoa airport. The container line wants to buy the stake from airport operator Aeroproti di Roma. The Switzerland-based logistics operator wants to grow its air freight business following the purchase of a majority stake in an Italian air cargo business in the past year.

Peru president reaffirms commitment to China-backed megaport. Peru will honour its commitment to Cosco Shipping’s exclusive operating rights for the Chancay port terminal. Following the inauguration of the megaport in November, a new route linking Peru and Shanghai will be launched. Peru hopes the facility will become a regional logistics centre.

MSC muscles in on 20% market share. Fleet size of the world’s largest container carrier is also expected to surpass the 6m teu threshold by the end of this month. By February next year, when Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd’s Gemini alliance begins operations, MSC’s fleet size and market share are expected to equal the combined total of these two competitors.

War on shipping continues with five incidents in seven days. Just one vessel was struck by explosives, but maritime authorities reported several near-misses. A range of missile attacks, waterborne explosives and suspicious approaches were reported by merchant shipping over the past week, with all but two claimed by the Houthis.

Container futures trading trend suggests no end to Red Sea crisis this year. Trading of China’s Asia-North Europe container shipping futures saw double-digit gains for early 2025 freight levels, indicating that shippers believe the Houthis will continue to terrorise shipping in the Red Sea into next year.

Hapag-Lloyd rebrands terminals division. German carrier looks to historic links for new name. Launched as a standalone business unit last year, Hapag-Lloyd terminals and infrastructure division is now getting its own identity. Hanseatic Global Terminals will manage 20 terminals around the world.

CMA CGM closes media deal. Carrier’s diversification into media market takes another step. Deal to acquire Altice Media has been approved by regulators and has now completed. TV and radio stations will be added to existing print and digital media unit.
CMA CGM brings Bolloré under Ceva Logistics brand. French line acquired Bolloré Logistics earlier in 2024 in a multibillion-dollar deal. Bolloré Logistics will sit under the Ceva brand, CMA CGM’s logistics subsidiary, after it was purchased in CMA CGM’s biggest-ever acquisition.

Bigwigs are starting to call for Joe Biden to step aside. A sitting congressman has broken ranks. Some fires are hard to snuff out. The one that started after President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance on June 27th, through which he stammered only semi-lucidly, is developing into a blaze. For a few days it was only the media—albeit including the columnists and commentators closest to the president—who were calling for him to abandon his bid for re-election. But on July 2nd the president’s support within the Democratic Party started to crack. Lloyd Doggett, a representative from Texas, became the first sitting Democratic congressman to call for him to stand aside. Betting markets, which had put the odds of the president leaving the race at 25% that morning, had raised them to 75% by the following day.

Approval for sea cargo terminal near Chicago. Ports of Indiana has received US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) approval to establish the first international sea cargo container terminal on Lake Michigan at Burns Harbor, creating the only all-water container route for ocean vessels to serve the Chicago metropolitan area.
 

New York has the most traffic congestion of any city in the world. New Yorkers spent 101 hours stuck in traffic last year, though London, Paris, Mexico City and Chicago were not far behind in terms of time wasted.

Happy 4th of July Independence day to all our friends in the United States of America!

Registration for the Regional Europe Conference, on 17-18 October in Vienna, is still open for everyone to sign up. Attached find the latest update of the participants-list. More information about the programme, venue etc. will follow shortly.

Last week we welcomed two new members in Scandinavia: NTEX from Sweden and CHS Air & Sea from Finland. Welcome on board to our fresh Nordic assets.

A general and gentle request in terms of communication within the EAA Network. If no proper reply is received in a timely manner, please pick up the phone and call the prime contact from the EAA contaclist. We believe that, in general,  this works better than sending second, third reminder, etc..

.5 kg of olives make about 1 litre of olive oil