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Tropical storms bring congestion and cargo backlogs at Asian ports

Typhoon Dolphin, which made landfall around Ningbo yesterday, has added to congestion around East Asian ports, with 2.4m teu of containerships now waiting around ports in China. After typhoons Bavi and Noul, Typhoon Dolphin is the third and strongest tropical storm to hit China in the last five weeks, forcing ships to take refuge. Vessel delays are expected to be protracted, with Ningbo and Shanghai the worst affected ports, their terminal operations brought to a standstill last Friday and Saturday. Linerlytica said the congestion had spread to ports in Southern China, which bore the brunt of Typhoon Noul, and it would take a few weeks to clear the vessel backlog. Forwarder CH Robinson advised customers that ports across East China were also implementing contingency measures. Shanghai terminals and additional regional port facilities announced restrictions and temporary operational suspensions as the weather deteriorates. CH Robinson said shippers could expect late ships and berthing, a pause in depot operations, and changes to cargo cut-offs and container return windows. There could also be trucking delays and container shortages. UK forwarder Beckchoice said Shanghai and Ningbo had experienced continued disruption, but port operations were gradually beginning to recover. At Yangshan Port in Shanghai, recovery is also under way, although with a significant backlog. Beckchoice warned: "Our local agent has advised that vessel waiting times at some Yangshan berths are currently reaching up to 12 days, while availability for container gate-in appointments remains limited. The congestion is also increasing the risk of vessel omissions, rolled cargo, and containers being bumped from scheduled sailings. "In some cases, shipping lines may choose to omit Shanghai from their schedules depending on operational conditions and individual carrier arrangements." The bottlenecks are, however, a boon for shipping lines active in the transpacific. Shanghai-US West Coast rates still holding above $7,000 per 40ft, while Shanghai-US East Coast has passed the $10,000 per 40ft mark. Typhoon Dolphin has claimed one casualty: MSC's 2006-built 8,401 teu vessel, MSC Silvana VIII ran aground and is half-submerged and at risk of sinking, after unsuccessful refloating attempts. In Taiwan, seven containers in Yang Ming's container yard in Keelung were damaged after toppling in the strong winds on Sunday morning. Some of the containers hit nearby cranes. The damage is being assessed to calculate claims against the relevant insurers.

Shipping disruption sees 'rate increase fire' spread from spots to contracts

From one week to the next, it has been more of the same: transpacific rates on the climb; but with the cost of shipping into Europe showing an even more precipitous drop than last week, there are major question marks over the latest carrier plans to induce price hikes this week. Beginning with the good news for the shipping lines, the amount they can charge from Asia into both US coasts jumped markedly over the past seven days, according to the Drewry World Container Index (WCI), with Asia-Los Angeles rates up 6%, to $6,244 per 40ft. Forwarders told The Loadstar the spot market was continuing to be affected by the disruption from the conflict in the Middle East, a view echoed by the chief analyst at Xeneta, Peter Sand, who said it was now feeding into long-term rates, too. "The knock-on effect of almost half a year of disruption caused by war in the Middle East is spreading to the long-term contract market. Average long-term rates Asia-US west coast and east coast are up 41% and 40% respectively since the end of February," he said. "This is the fire spreading from the short-term market, where we have seen massive, triple-digit rate increases. The disruption caused by war in the Midde East is becoming a deepset and structural problem that will not go away any time soon," he added. Mr Sand described carriers as now sitting in "an extremely powerful position to call the shots across both long-term and short-term markets", with the WCI noting a more potent spot rate surge of 10% week on week, to $8,706 per 40ft for Asia-New York sailings. But beyond war, spot rates on transpacific trades have been supported by not only that strong demand into the US east coast has allowed rate hikes introduced at the start of August to hold, but the impact of bad weather in East Asia. Linerlytica said: "Vessel schedule disruptions are set to continue on both Central and Southern China transpacific services, as vessels are severely delayed by the third typhoon to hit China in the past two months, affecting both US west coast and east coast capacity. "The outlook remains positive, with rates to the USWC still holding above $7,000 per 40ft while rates to the east coast have risen further, to over $10,000 per 40ft." And, with some 2.4m teu of capacity stranded by Typhoon Dolphin, carriers may be licking their lips. However that sense of rising fortunes cannot be applied to trades serving Europe, and while Shanghai-Rotterdam rates held steady last week, this week they joined the drop, down 5% week on week, to $4,425 per 40ft, according to the WCI. Following its 2% week-on-week drop seven days ago, the WCI's Shanghai-Genoa trade saw an 8% decline in rates, hitting $5,080 per 40ft, their lowest since the start of June and the boom brought about by the extended mini-peak. This left Drewry scratching its head over the intention of some carriers to bring in new freight all kinds (FAK) rates, ranging from $6,700 to $7,100 per 40ft from tomorrow on Asia-Mediterranean services. The index said "weakening demand raises questions over the sustainability of these prices", particularly poignant given the softening cargo demand noted by a number of commentators, including Linerlytica and several other Loadstar sources.

Vietjet Air Cargo selects Group Concorde for Japan and Indonesia

Vietjet Air Cargo has selected Group Concorde to provide sales agency (GSA) services covering Japan and Indonesia. The new tie-up started in August and will see India-headquartered Group Concorde represent the airline's commercial interests in the two countries and drive sales, customer engagement, and market development to support the airline's cargo growth strategy across the Asia Pacific region. Japan and Indonesia are both significant contributors to regional air cargo volumes, the companies said in a press release. Vietjet Air Cargo offers customers from the two countries access to cargo capacity and connectivity through Vietnam into wider Asia-Pacific and international markets. Praveen Narayanan, vice president - Asia Pacific, Group Concorde, said: "Both markets play an important role in the Asia-Pacific air cargo landscape, and this appointment reflects the trust Vietjet Air Cargo has placed in Group Concorde. Our teams in Japan and Indonesia are committed to delivering dedicated service, building stronger connections with our customers and identifying new opportunities for sustainable cargo growth. "We look forward to working closely with Vietjet Air Cargo to strengthen its presence in these markets and create greater value for our customers and partners across the region." The new Vietjet contract is the second win announced by Group Concorde in recent months. In June, the company said that it had been appointed the cargo sales agent for My Freighter across the UAE, Philippines Cambodia and Myanmar.