DANISH shipping giant Maersk Line has announced it's cutting its FAK rates from Asia to Northern Europe from May 16, as ocean carriers serving the trade continue to suffer from soft demand ahead of the peak season.
The container line says it will slash its rate from Shanghai to North European ports by US$300, to $1,600 per FEU, as it begins to feel the heat from the launch of the Ocean Alliance's additional seventh loop last month, the UK's Loadstar reported.
Maersk's new FAK rates will be valid until 31 May, when it will hope to re-raise them as peak season bookings start to kick in.
Meanwhile, container spot rates on the route are lagging behind where they were a year ago.
In its first publication since April 26, the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI) recorded a 7 per cent uplift in rates to North Europe over the two-week period to $768 per TEU, which compares with a reading of $811 per TEU on 11 May last year.
For Mediterranean ports, rates were flat at $726 per TEU, compared with $783 a year ago.
In the US, the decision to apply a 25 per cent tariff on $325 billion Chinese imports, including consumer goods that had so far not been subject to duty, has wrong-footed the transpacific market, which had been led to believe that the US and China were "very close" to a trade deal.
The Asia-US west coast component of the SCFI saw an 8.1 per cent decline in the two-week period to $1,442 per FEU, while spot rates for the US east coast were flat at $2,711 per FEU.
2019/5/14 6:21:51