Latest news with #Hapag-LloydAG
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First Post
26-05-2025
- Business
- First Post
Trump tariffs to Houthi attacks, world has a new trade headache: The long wait for ships to dock
European port congestion is surging (Bremerhaven up 77%), driven by labour shortages, Rhine low water and a US-China tariff truce. Global supply chains face rising costs, Red Sea diversions and new US tariff threats. read more Port congestion at major European hubs is intensifying, with ripple effects threatening global supply chains and shipping costs. According to a recent report by maritime consultancy Drewry, waiting times for berth space surged significantly between late March and mid-May: Bremerhaven experienced a 77% increase, Antwerp 37%, and Hamburg 49%. Rotterdam and the UK's Felixstowe also reported extended delays. These disruptions are primarily attributed to labour shortages and low water levels on the Rhine River, which have hampered barge traffic to and from inland locations. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Compounding these challenges, the temporary rollback of 145% tariffs on Chinese imports by US President Donald Trump has accelerated shipping demand between the world's largest economies. This surge is evident in the transpacific eastbound trade, which is showing signs of an early peak season, fuelled by a 90-day pause in US–China tariffs set to expire on August 14. Similar congestion patterns are emerging in Shenzhen, China, as well as Los Angeles and New York, where the number of container ships awaiting berth has been increasing since late April. Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hamburg-based Hapag-Lloyd AG was quoted by Bloomberg as saying that while there are recent signs of improvement at European ports, it may take another six to eight weeks before the situation is under control. He emphasised the need for a gradual restoration of regular journeys through the Suez Canal to avoid overwhelming ports with vessel traffic, suggesting that a sudden shift could create massive congestion. In the United States, the tariff truce with China has not yet led to a significant increase in trans-Pacific shipping. Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Management, questioned whether existing 30% tariffs on China remain too high or if U.S. companies are waiting to see if tariffs will drop further before ramping up shipments. Meanwhile, the trade landscape remains volatile. President Trump recently threatened to impose a 50% tariff on European Union goods starting June 1, a move that could severely impact transatlantic trade. However, following a conversation with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Trump agreed to delay the implementation until July 9 to allow for further negotiations. This announcement provided temporary relief to markets, with European shares and US futures experiencing gains. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Despite this delay, the threat of increased tariffs continues to create uncertainty for importers and exporters, making it difficult to plan orders and causing unseasonal swings in demand. Shipping lines are facing delays and higher costs, leading to freight rate hikes. Carriers, including MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co., have already announced general rate increases and peak season surcharges starting in June for cargo from Asia. Adding to the complexity, cargo ships are still largely avoiding the Red Sea due to ongoing attacks by Yemen-based Houthis, opting instead to sail around southern Africa. This longer route affects goods transported between Asia, Europe, and the US, further straining global shipping networks. As the situation evolves, stakeholders throughout the supply chain are closely monitoring developments, aware that the interaction of port congestion, labour shortages, and geopolitical tensions could have lasting impacts on global trade dynamics.
Economic Times
26-05-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Shipping bottlenecks in Europe send a warning signal to US, Asia
iStock Compounding the constraints is US President Donald Trump's temporary rollback on 145% tariffs on Chinese imports, which has pulled forward shipping demand between the world's largest economies. Port congestion is worsening at key gateways in northern Europe and other hubs, according to a new report which suggests trade wars could spread maritime disruptions to Asia and the US and push up shipping times for berth space jumped 77% in Bremerhaven, Germany, between late March and mid-May, according to the report Friday from Drewry, a maritime consultancy in London. The delays rose 37% in Antwerp and 49% in Hamburg over the same stretch, with Rotterdam and the UK's Felixstowe also showing longer waits. Labor shortages and low water levels on the Rhine River are the main culprits, hindering barge traffic to and from inland locations. Compounding the constraints is US President Donald Trump's temporary rollback on 145% tariffs on Chinese imports, which has pulled forward shipping demand between the world's largest economies.'Port delays are stretching transit times, disrupting inventory planning and pushing shippers to carry extra stock,' Drewry said. 'Adding to the pressure, the transpacific eastbound trade is showing signs of an early peak season, fueled by a 90-day pause in US–China tariffs, set to expire on Aug. 14.'Similar patterns are emerging in Shenzhen, China, as well as Los Angeles and New York, 'where the number of container ships awaiting berth has been increasing since' late-April, it Habben Jansen, chief executive officer of Hamburg-based Hapag-Lloyd AG, said on a webinar last week that, although he's seen recent signs of improvement at European ports, he expects it will take 'another six to eight weeks before we have that under control.' Still, Torsten Slok, Apollo Management's chief economist, pointed out in a note on Sunday that the US-China tariff truce reached almost two weeks ago hasn't yet unleashed a surge in ships across the Pacific.'This raises the question: Are 30% tariffs on China still too high? Or are US companies simply waiting to see if tariffs will drop further before ramping up shipments?' Slok wrote. US tariffs – combined with sudden threats and truces – make it difficult for importers and exporters to calibrate their orders, causing unseasonal swings in demand. For shipping lines, those translate into delays and higher costs requiring freight rate hikes. The latest blow to visibility came Friday, when Trump threatened to hit the European Union with a 50% tariff on June 1, a move that could roil transatlantic trade.'The additional policy uncertainty will be a deadweight cost to global activity by adding risks to decisions on expenditures,' Oxford Economics said in a research note on Saturday. Germany, Ireland, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands are the most vulnerable given their ratios of US exports to GDP, it Economics said in a research note Friday that 'additional tariffs of 50% would likely reduce EU exports to the US for all products facing reciprocal duties to near zero — cutting total EU exports to the US by more than half.'Mounting uncertainty about whether Trump would follow through on such a big trade threat or postpone it like he did with China is adding to shipping including MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co., the world's largest container line, had already announced general rate increases and peak season surcharges, starting in June, for cargo from the weeks ahead, those are likely to boost spot rates for seaborne freight, the cost of which is still underpinned by geopolitical ships are still largely avoiding the Red Sea, where Yemen-based Houthis started attacking vessels in late 2023, and sailing around southern Africa to ferry goods on routes that connect Asia, Europe and the the webinar, Habben Jansen said it's still not safe to traverse the Red Sea and indicated that any eventual restoration of regular journeys through the Suez Canal would have to be gradual, perhaps taking several months, to avoid flooding ports with vessel traffic.'If we would from one day to another shift those ships back through Suez, we would create massive congestion in many of the ports,' Habben Jansen said. 'So our approach would be that if we can do it, that we do it over a longer period of time so that the ports do not collapse, because that's in nobody's interest.'
Malaysian Reserve
26-05-2025
- Business
- Malaysian Reserve
Shipping bottlenecks in Europe send a warning signal to US, Asia
PORT congestion is worsening at key gateways in northern Europe and other hubs, according to a new report which suggests trade wars could spread maritime disruptions to Asia and the US and push up shipping rates. Waiting times for berth space jumped 77% in Bremerhaven, Germany, between late March and mid-May, according to the report Friday from Drewry, a maritime consultancy in London. The delays rose 37% in Antwerp and 49% in Hamburg over the same stretch, with Rotterdam and the UK's Felixstowe also showing longer waits. Labor shortages and low water levels on the Rhine River are the main culprits, hindering barge traffic to and from inland locations. Compounding the constraints is US President Donald Trump's temporary rollback on 145% tariffs on Chinese imports, which has pulled forward shipping demand between the world's largest economies. 'Port delays are stretching transit times, disrupting inventory planning and pushing shippers to carry extra stock,' Drewry said. 'Adding to the pressure, the transpacific eastbound trade is showing signs of an early peak season, fueled by a 90-day pause in US–China tariffs, set to expire on Aug. 14.' Similar patterns are emerging in Shenzhen, China, as well as Los Angeles and New York, 'where the number of container ships awaiting berth has been increasing since' late-April, it said. Rolf Habben Jansen, chief executive officer of Hamburg-based Hapag-Lloyd AG, said on a webinar last week that, although he's seen recent signs of improvement at European ports, he expects it will take 'another six to eight weeks before we have that under control.' Still, Torsten Slok, Apollo Management's chief economist, pointed out in a note on Sunday that the US-China tariff truce reached almost two weeks ago hasn't yet unleashed a surge in ships across the Pacific. 'This raises the question: Are 30% tariffs on China still too high? Or are US companies simply waiting to see if tariffs will drop further before ramping up shipments?' Slok wrote. US tariffs – combined with sudden threats and truces – make it difficult for importers and exporters to calibrate their orders, causing unseasonal swings in demand. For shipping lines, those translate into delays and higher costs requiring freight rate hikes. The latest blow to visibility came Friday, when Trump threatened to hit the European Union with a 50% tariff on June 1, a move that could roil transatlantic trade. 'The additional policy uncertainty will be a deadweight cost to global activity by adding risks to decisions on expenditures,' Oxford Economics said in a research note on Saturday. Germany, Ireland, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands are the most vulnerable given their ratios of US exports to GDP, it said. Bloomberg Economics said in a research note Friday that 'additional tariffs of 50% would likely reduce EU exports to the US for all products facing reciprocal duties to near zero — cutting total EU exports to the US by more than half.' Mounting uncertainty about whether Trump would follow through on such a big trade threat or postpone it like he did with China is adding to shipping pressures. Carriers including MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co., the world's largest container line, had already announced general rate increases and peak season surcharges, starting in June, for cargo from Asia. In the weeks ahead, those are likely to boost spot rates for seaborne freight, the cost of which is still underpinned by geopolitical turmoil. Cargo ships are still largely avoiding the Red Sea, where Yemen-based Houthis started attacking vessels in late 2023, and sailing around southern Africa to ferry goods on routes that connect Asia, Europe and the US. On the webinar, Habben Jansen said it's still not safe to traverse the Red Sea and indicated that any eventual restoration of regular journeys through the Suez Canal would have to be gradual, perhaps taking several months, to avoid flooding ports with vessel traffic. 'If we would from one day to another shift those ships back through Suez, we would create massive congestion in many of the ports,' Habben Jansen said. 'So our approach would be that if we can do it, that we do it over a longer period of time so that the ports do not collapse, because that's in nobody's interest.' –BLOOMBERG
Time of India
15-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Hapag-Lloyd CEO sees ‘huge surge' in volume last few days
Hapag-Lloyd AG, a major container carrier, reports a significant business surge. This follows the US and China easing tariffs. The demand for transpacific shipping has increased. Bookings from China to the US are rebounding strongly. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The world's No. 5 container carrier is seeing a jump in business this week after the US and China lowered tariffs, the company's CEO said, as the trade war cease-fire unleashes a wave of pent-up demand for transpacific shipping.'The last couple of days we see a huge surge of volume and now we need to see how long that lasts,' Rolf Habben Jansen , chief executive officer of Hamburg, Germany-based Hapag-Lloyd AG, told Bloomberg Television on estimated the boost at more than 50% compared with recent weeks, 'so it's pretty significant.' Bookings from China to the US, which were down sharply over the past few weeks, have rebounded strongly with other regions 'all remaining pretty stable,' Jansen President Donald Trump 's 145% tariffs on Chinese imports, and Beijing's 125% retaliatory levies on American goods, halted most trade between the world's largest economies since early April, dimming the growth outlook for both nations.A 90-day truce was announced Monday, under which the US dropped its duties to 30% and China lowered its own to 10%.In the interview, conducted after Hapag-Lloyd reported first-quarter results, Jansen said that while there's 'limited visibility' into the future given the uncertainty around tariffs, 'I still remain cautiously optimistic that we will not run into a recession.'Major shipping lines including Hapag-Lloyd have been avoiding sailing through the Red Sea since late 2023, when Yemen-based Houthis started attacking commercial ships transiting the waterway. Diversions around southern Africa along a much longer route have constrained global container capacity and underpinned seaborne freight after Trump's announcement earlier this month that the Houthis would stop bombing ships, it's still uncertain that security for commercial vessels will be assured longer term, Hapag-Lloyd indicated Wednesday.'It remains unclear when passage through the Red Sea will be safe again, meaning that increased transport costs are still to be expected due to the necessary diversion of vessels around the Cape of Good Hope,' the company said in its quarterly the Bloomberg TV interview, Jansen added that 'we need visibility that it is safe and that it is going to remain safe for a longer period of time, because what we want to avoid at all costs is to go in and out.'Returning to Red Sea routes through the Suez Canal routes poses a 'real risk to create a lot of congestion which is something everyone wants to avoid,' he said. 'For that reason, what we will try to do is that as soon as it's safe again, we'll make a plan to gradually go back through Suez to avoid that ports collapse and make sure that supply chains keep flowing.'When it's ready to be implemented, that rerouting process could take 60 to 90 days, he February, Hapag-Lloyd started a vessel-sharing alliance known as the Gemini Cooperation with Copenhagen-based A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, the world's No. 2 container line.
Bloomberg
14-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Hapag-Lloyd CEO Sees ‘Huge Surge' in Volume Last Few Days
The world's No. 5 container carrier is seeing a jump in business this week after the US and China lowered tariffs, the company's CEO said, as the trade war cease-fire unleashes a wave of pent-up demand for transpacific shipping. 'The last couple of days we see a huge surge of volume and now we need to see how long that lasts,' Rolf Habben Jansen, chief executive officer of Hamburg, Germany-based Hapag-Lloyd AG, told Bloomberg Television on Wednesday.
