Latest news with #Transpacific
Fibre2Fashion
6 days ago
- Business
- Fibre2Fashion
Europe's ports face delays amid labour shortages, strikes
Port congestion is intensifying across major global trade routes, with Northern Europe's key hubs—including Antwerp, Rotterdam, Hamburg, and Bremerhaven—facing escalating backlogs and severe inland transport disruptions, according to Drewry. Bremerhaven has been particularly affected due to labour shortages during the recent holiday period, while low water levels on the Rhine have curtailed barge capacity out of Antwerp and Rotterdam, compounding logistical strain. Port congestion is worsening across key hubs in Northern Europe and major global ports like Shenzhen, Los Angeles, and New York, driven by labour shortages, strikes, and inland transport issues. Berth waiting times and logistics costs are rising sharply. Carriers are imposing surcharges, while spot rates surge amid an early peak season influenced by USâ€'China tariff uncertainty. At the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, operations were further strained by a nationwide strike on May 20, which temporarily disrupted vessel traffic. Kallo and Boudewijn Locks were affected, with Boudewijn Lock later restored to full operation by the evening. Although the impact was short-lived, it added pressure to already congested conditions across the region, maritime research and consulting firm Drewry said in its Logistics Executive Briefing. Berth waiting times reflect the severity of the congestion. At Antwerp, average waiting time rose from 32 hours in Week 13 to 44 hours in Week 20—a 37 per cent increase. Hamburg witnessed a 49 per cent jump from 34 to 50 hours, while Bremerhaven saw a 77 per cent surge over the same period. These port delays are having a cascading effect across the supply chain. Supply chain reliability is falling, logistics costs are climbing, and inland transport is becoming increasingly complex. The congestion is not confined to Europe alone. Similar trends have emerged in Shenzhen, Los Angeles, and New York, where the number of containerships waiting to berth has steadily increased since Week 17. At peak levels, up to 50 ships were waiting in Shenzhen, 42 in Los Angeles, and 14 in New York. Extended port delays are stretching transit times, disrupting inventory planning, and forcing shippers to carry surplus stock. Carriers are responding with rerouting strategies and congestion surcharges. Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), for example, is set to implement a congestion surcharge from June 1 on all shipments from Northern Europe to the Far East, further elevating freight costs, added the report. The strain is compounded by a potential early peak season in Transpacific eastbound trade, driven by a temporary 90-day pause in US—China tariffs, which expires on August 14. As a result, container spot rates have surged 27 per cent since early May. Rates from Shanghai to Los Angeles climbed from $2,590 on May 1 to $3,197 by May 22, 2025, according to Drewry's World Container Index (WCI). Similarly, rates to New York rose from $3,500 to $4,527 in the same period. General Rate Increases (GRIs) were successfully implemented on May 15, 2025, with additional GRIs and Peak Season Surcharges (PSSs) scheduled for June 1, 2025. The worsening congestion underscores the vulnerability of container shipping to disruption and reinforces the urgent need for resilient, adaptive supply chain strategies. In such a volatile landscape, access to real-time market insights—covering key indicators such as port congestion, blank sailings, and capacity—is critical for cargo owners seeking to make informed decisions, mitigate risks, and navigate continued uncertainty effectively, said Drewry. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (SG)
Business Times
18-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Trump's tariff tide lifts Asean ports again – some more than others
[SINGAPORE] Ports across South-east Asia are riding a second wave of a 'great reroute', buoyed by a fresh swell as businesses give Beijing a wide berth to dodge US tariffs – adding to earlier gains when companies adopted the China-plus-one playbook. US President Donald Trump's latest tariff blitz, albeit dialled-back temporarily, has sent businesses rerouting their shipments, with pundits The Business Times spoke to agreeing that ongoing supply chain shifts are putting wind in the sails of South-east Asia's ports – the backbone of global trade. But the region's rising shipping volumes are straining ports, with infrastructure gaps and pandemic-era congestion resurfacing as shippers rush to beat the tariff clock. S&P Global Ratings analyst Yang Shanshan noted that since the tariffs were introduced, the China-US throughput has naturally faced the largest drops, while the largest boost was seen on routes between China and South-east Asia. Ports in Vietnam, India and Malaysia are clear beneficiaries, recording double-digit volume growth, said Praveen Gregory, senior vice-president for ocean freight at DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific. 'Smaller ports like Thailand's Laem Chabang are also gaining traction for niche sectors like automotive parts,' he highlighted. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 8.30 am Asean Business Business insights centering on South-east Asia's fast-growing economies. Sign Up Sign Up Earlier, the US slapped on China goods an overall tariff of 145 per cent, which has since been cut to 30 per cent after a trade deal was brokered from weekend trade talks in Geneva. South-east Asia earlier faced levies ranging from a baseline 10 per cent to as high as 49 per cent, until Trump on Apr 9 announced a 90-day pause on these reciprocal taxes. While some companies adopted a wait-and-see approach by utilising existing inventory to meet demand or frontloaded orders to ensure sufficient stock on hand, others are changing their sourcing networks where possible, in the short term, added Gregory. 'This can be seen from the surge in demand for alternative sourcing hubs like Vietnam, India and Mexico,' he noted. 'We have also seen an increase in transhipment through South-east Asian hubs like Malaysia.' Despite an additional one to three days in transit times, companies are still pivoting to such regional transhipment hubs as they hunt for alternatives to bypass direct China-US routes, said DHL's Gregory. Similarly, Flexport's vice-president for global ocean procurement Nerijus Poskus pointed out that the tech-focused logistics management firm is seeing a 'notable increase' in requests for quotations originating from Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. 'Haiphong is experiencing an increase in direct service offerings, particularly on Transpacific routes,' he said of the Northern Vietnamese port city. Transpacific Eastbound trade lane Poskus added that the wider China's market share of US imports along the Transpacific Eastbound (TPEB) route – a trade lane that stretches across the Pacific Ocean between Asia and the US, and arguably the most important to American importers – has gradually been declining. The market share of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan combined fell to 61.7 per cent in the year to date, from 62.8 per cent last year and 74.6 per cent in 2016, he said. Meanwhile, Vietnam's share of the TPEB market grew to 15 per cent this year from 6.2 per cent in 2016. Poskus noted that Vietnam has more than doubled its share to become the second-largest source of US imports. Thailand's market share increased to 5.5 per cent this year so far from 3.1 per cent in 2016, he added. Indonesia also achieved 'modest growth' to 2.9 per cent in the year to date from 2.4 per cent in 2016, and Flexport has recently received 'a lot of interest' in the largest South-east Asian economy, said Poskus. Congested ports But increased throughput comes with a price tag for the region, and its perennial struggle with infrastructure financing gaps is coming back to bite. South-east Asia is experiencing a level of port congestion not seen since the pandemic, said Lockton Singapore's head of protection and indemnity, Freddie Hawke. 'In Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, we're seeing a surge to expedite cargo within the 90-day implementation window (and) we expect to see further congestion for ports in this region as importers look for alternatives to Chinese suppliers,' he noted. Said DHL's Gregory: 'Infrastructure gaps remain a challenge (for regional ports), and congestion resurges where capacity lags demand.' The global story Observers across the board maintain that the outlook for the shipping industry remains murky, with much hinging on the trajectory of trade and tariff policies in the coming months. The shipping industry is often seen as a proxy for global economic growth, and freight rates are viewed as a barometer of the sector's health. Jayendu Krishna, director – head of maritime advisers at Drewry, noted that freight rates from Malaysia and Vietnam to the US have 'increased considerably, (which) is reflective of surging volumes'. Then again, that of other major US-bound routes have been falling, he added. 'It tells a global story of a steep decline in freight rates, mainly because of oversupply in the container shipping market,' warned Krishna. 'With a fall in US-bound trade, container shipping may be facing a double whammy.'
NZ Herald
13-05-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Capital Markets: New Zealand companies face uncertainty amid US tariffs and global slowdown
Its economic forecast for New Zealand saw a reduction in real GDP growth in 2025 to 1.4%, down 0.5 percentage points. Growth for the Asia Pacific region – seen as strongly exposed to tariff shock – is expected to slow to around 3.9% and 4% in 2025 and 2026, respectively, down from 4.6% in 2024 and 4.4% in 2025, the IMF said. The uncertainty made forecasting difficult during the most recent reporting season, although company outlook statements did come in positive overall, according to Forsyth Barr's quantitative scorecard of the results. 'Trump tariffs and a major capital raise clouded the December earnings season, making it feel worse than it actually was,' Forsyth Barr analysts Aaron Ibbotson and Matthew Leach said in their research note. 'Our overall scorecard yielded a net negative result, but only modestly so. Cost-out programmes, demand as weak as expected and a surprising net positive outlook are our main takeaways. 'Earnings are still being downgraded as the recovery is pushed out at least another six months, but the pace of downgrades has slowed meaningfully,' they said. The February 2025 reporting season, dominated by the property and aged care sectors, showed earnings per share (EPS) growth was below expectations – weighed down by the likes of Fletcher Building and Meridian Energy reporting large losses compared with the previous corresponding period. Overall revenue growth was slightly better than expected though. Of the 31 NZX-listed companies that reported results, 11 reported ahead of Forsyth Barr's EPS expectations, four were in line and 16 were below. 'Downgrades continue to feature with net negative revisions across the board from revenue to the bottom line for both FY26 and FY27,' the analysts noted. The bright spot was the a2 Milk Company, which increased its first-half net profit by 7.6% to $91.7 million and recorded an 18.8% post result one-day share price gain. The biggest miss came from Spark NZ, which reported a 78% decrease in first-half net profit and a 17.8% post-result one-day share price decline. Forsyth Barr noted that both companies have a limited read across the New Zealand economy, whereas Fletcher was more hitched. 'We upgraded our estimates for cyclical bellwether Fletcher Building for the first time in over two years. It felt bleak but was in line with our low expectations.' One company result to look out for later this month is Mainfreight, a major logistics and transport company that is also seen as an economic bellwether. The company reports its first-half results on May 29. Earlier this month, Mainfreight said it expected its profit before tax and sales revenues for the March 2025 year to be above market consensus expectations of $375m and $5.1 billion, respectively. 'However, we are seeing a reduction in forward sea freight bookings for May on the Transpacific trade route, China to US,' the company noted. The stock staged a decent recovery in the aftermath of the update. Geoff Zame of Craigs Investment Partners said in a daily newsletter that Mainfreight's update calmed market concerns about a tariff-induced slowdown in global growth impacting that company's earnings. At the macro level, uncertainty around tariffs remains a theme, Milford Asset Management portfolio manager Mark Riggall said in a recent note to clients. 'Just three short months ago, investor expectations were of ongoing US outperformance, both economically and from the stock market. Now, expectations are rapidly changing as fading US growth, policy headwinds (partly from tariffs), AI [artificial intelligence] fatigue and stronger stimulus impulses overseas (notably the German fiscal package) have upended the outlook for various asset markets. 'Looking ahead, uncertainty around tariffs and other government policy in the US lowers our conviction levels. But a policy-induced slowdown can also be mitigated by a policy reversal, an outcome that is likely at some point in the future.' Duncan Bridgeman is managing editor of NZME Business, including the Business Herald and BusinessDesk.
RNZ News
01-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Mainfreight expects to beat market exceptions with release of year results nearing
Mainfreight says export trade into the US from Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia is largely unaffected by tariffs at this stage. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone Mainfreight expects its full year underlying profit and revenue will beat market exceptions , though warns forward sea freight shippings are down. The global transportation company said full year profit before tax was expected to exceed the market consensus of $375 million with sales revenue of $5.1 billion. "Trading during April within our Air & Ocean division has been in line with prior years , albeit disrupted due to Easter and ANZAC holidays," it said in a statement to the market. "However, we are seeing a reduction in forward sea freight bookings for May on the Transpacific trade route, China to USA." It said the Transpacific trade lane represented about 10 percent of Mainfreight's total Air & Ocean freight volume. "Alongside these reductions, a number of customers wishing to continue to ship from China to the USA are placing freight bookings on hold until a more defined outcome is achieved on tariff negotiations. "It is our expectation that tonnage reductions on the Transpacific trade lane are inevitable while tariff negotiations continue to provide uncertainty for importers and exporters alike." It said export trade into the United States from Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia was largely unaffected at this stage . "Many customers in these regions have a "wait and see" approach, with normal business conditions being adopted during the 90-day tariff suspension period." However, it said Mainfreight's operations in five regions, including 27 countries, provided ongoing opportunity should there be a reduction in US trade. It said Mainfreight's US based business represented about 7 percent of its underlying profit for the year just ended. "Whilst we remain dissatisfied with this performance and return, the USA market continues to provide growth opportunity," it said adding that all three US divisions of Domestic Transportation, Warehousing and Air & Ocean were in position to take advantage internal and external supply chain opportunities. "(These opportunities) are likely to eventuate once trade negotiations are completed and some form of normality returns to USA trade." The company's full year result ended 31 March and will be released on Thursday 29 May. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Air cargo shippers opt for short-term contracts as tariffs escalate
This story was originally published on Supply Chain Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Supply Chain Dive newsletter. Shippers and freight forwarders are stalling on making longer-term commitments on air cargo capacity as international trade tensions heat up, according to an April 3 Xeneta report. Seventy-nine percent of shipper contracts negotiated in Q1 were short-term agreements of three months or fewer, up nearly 20 percentage points year over year, Xeneta said. Forwarders are opting to keep about 45% of volumes on the spot market. 'With the growth of rates slowing overall, we'd normally expect to see shippers making longer capacity commitments to achieve more competitive rates, but, right now, this is clearly a gamble few shippers are ready to take – and this is before we're even seeing tariffs impacting volumes,' said Niall van de Wouw, Xeneta's chief airfreight officer. President Donald Trump's tariff-heavy trade strategy is sending shocks throughout supply chains, leading to volatility in the air cargo market, especially for shipments between China and the U.S. Earlier this month, the U.S. hiked reciprocal tariffs on imports from China to 125%, pushing the potential duty burden on imports from the country to as much as 245%, per the White House. China countered with a tariff hike to 125% on U.S. imports, further escalating tensions. In such a turbulent environment, even if capacity agreements have escape clauses, it is risky for shippers and freight forwarders to commit to a fixed rate for a year, according to van de Wouw 'If they agree a plan for the year now, it could turn out to be much costlier in the longer-term,' he said. March by the numbers 5% YoY percentage increase in global air cargo volume $4.17 The average spot rate per kilogram from Northeast Asia to North America, up 9% YoY 60% The global dynamic load factor, which measures the volume and weight of cargo flown, as well as available capacity The planned reinstatement of a ban on the de minimis exemption for imports from China and Hong Kong in May is also roiling the air cargo market. E-commerce shipments from China to the U.S., many of which rely on the provision, make up roughly half of the trade lane's available cargo capacity and 6% of global air freight demand, Xeneta reported. Any disruption to that demand will free up a sizeable share of cargo capacity, which would impact other parts of the market. Xeneta reported that the U.S.' temporary lifting of its de minimis ban on China-originating shipments spurred a recovery in Transpacific e-commerce demand in March, but that is likely to change once the ban returns next month. Still, March marked the third consecutive month of subdued single-digit global air cargo demand growth. 'Clearly, everyone will be waiting to see how the removal of the de minimis threshold and all the global tariffs already announced and those still to come will impact trade, as well as how quickly there will be less demand and, consequently, less airfreight,' van de Wouw said. 'It's all expectations right now, but we must expect the situation will get worse before it gets better.' Recommended Reading Trade tensions prompt air cargo market uncertainty Sign in to access your portfolio
