Container Freight Rates Soar
Global container shipping rates have surged to records on a spike in restocking demand in the United States and Europe, container scarcity at export hubs, and changes in freight flows because of the coronavirus pandemic, shipping sources said.The Freightos Baltic Global Container Index (FBX), a weighted average of 12 major global container routes, rose to $2,359 per forty-foot equivalent (FEU) container this week, the highest on record and up 30% since July 1."The spike is driven by very high demand for container freight since July…
Shipping Carriers M&A to Wane in 2018 - iContainers
Mergers and acquisitions activities for shipping carriers are expected to slow down in 2018, and instead will likely to pivot to freight forwarders, where the industry can expect to see an increase in M&A talks, says online freight forwarder iContainers. Following an unprecedented number of mergers and acquisitions over the past few years, iContainers says this trend can now be expected to ebb. “In terms of carriers, I doubt we will see anymore movements in the near future. I don’t see any major players breaking right now.
Cosco Merger May Change Industry Dynamics
The merger between China Shipping group and the Cosco Group has given rise to a mammoth company that could trigger stability and extended consolidation in the global shipping industry, says a report in the WSJ. The merger will free the two Chinese shipping groups from competing against each other at home and abroad, in an industry swamped with oversupply and depressed freight rates. The new world leader in shipping industry is likely to own 832 ships including containers, dry-bulk vessels and tankers amounting to almost $22 billion. In comparison, AP Moller Maersk owns only 262 containers ships, which have a total value of $12.3 billion according to VesselsValue.com.
Cosco's Ambitious $1.5Bln Megaship Plan
Chinese shipping behemoth Cosco Holdings has confirmed it will order 11 container megaships for $1.5 billion, despite an estimated 30 percent overcapacity in container shipping having sent freight rates to levels that at times don't even cover the fuel cost of moving containers across oceans, The Wall Street Journal reported. It has placed an order for 11 19,000 TEU containerships at four domestic shipyards. This is the largest single order for container ships Chinese yards have ever received. When fully-loaded, such ships cut that cost by about 25 percent compared to smaller vessels. China COSCO stated in its filling to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on September 9 that it has ordered two container ships at Dalian COSCO Khi Ship Engineering (DACKS) for $270.6 million…
