The JOC reported December 5th 2008 that "Ocean container carriers have cut capacity on the three main east-west liner trade routes by 6.7 percent, or 61,000 TEUs a week, over the past four months amid stalling cargo volumes and falling freight rates." Gateway Logistics Group is a Houston and Miami Based Freight Forwarder that can assist in taking advantage of the falling shipping rates, as well as lock in needed containers for export shipments.
The JOC Article went on to report:
The Far East- Europe-Mediterranean trade saw the biggest drop, with weekly capacity down 9 per cent from 418,000 TEUs to 380,000 TEUs. Capacity on the Far East-North America route shrunk 5.5 percent to 357,000 TEUs from 376,000 TEUs and fell 2.5 percent on the Europe/Mediterranean-North America trade from 128,000 TEUs to 121,500 TEUs.
Meanwhile, container ship orders have fallen below 6.5 million TEUs for the first time in 13 months, AXS Alphaliner said.
“New orders have virtually vanished during the past two months while a few existing orders have been canceled or converted into other ship types.”
The world order book stood at 1,236 ships of 6.44 million TEUs on Dec. 1, equivalent to 52.2 percent of the existing fleet, compared with a peak of 64 percent a year ago.
Deliveries of new ships are running at an average of 4,350 TEUs a day, or some 130,000 TEUs per month, AXS said. The current container fleet now totals 4,651 vessels of 12.26 million TEUs.
Some 47 ships of 76,000 TEUs capacity have been scrapped so far this year, half within the past two months."
The cuts in capacity caused by falling shipping rates will eventually turn around. When this occurs, shippers that have taken advantage of the lower rates by locking them in for extended time periods will be poised to take advantage of the increase.
Gateway Logistics Group is a freight forwarder that focuses on logistics management in ocean freight forwarding. If you are a corporate traffic manager that needs a logistics company offering transportation logistics solutions that can take advantage of industry trends like the noted container cutbacks, then you can find more information at our website.
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