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In the absence of carrier-led price hikes, container spot rates largely flattened on the transpacific and Asia-Europe trades this week. The one exception was the transpacific Asia-North America west coast trade, which saw a 12% week-on-week increase, according to Drewry’s World Container Index. The WCI’s Shanghai-Los Angeles leg this week finished at $5,750 per 40ft, some 54% higher than the corresponding week in 2025. “Rates remained elevated this week, with standard market levels still pushing above $6,000 per container,” US west coast forwarder Freight Right said. “However, carriers and agents are increasingly making deals or promotional rate structures available, allowing some shipments to move closer to the $5,700–$5,800 range when volume, allocation, or carrier-ratio requirements can be met,” it added. It further explained that “blended deals” – combining lower contracts rates with spot rates in one booking – were being hiked up to the spot market levels by carriers being disciplined over allocations. “To guarantee vessel occupancy while capitalising on high spot rates, carriers are tying low, fixed-contract space of around $3,000 to standard market-rate space. “These ratios have become significantly tougher for forwarders, escalating from a 1:1 requirement to 1:3, 1:4, or even 1:5, effectively dragging the blended deal price closer to the standard spot market,” it said. Meanwhile, there was flatter growth on the WCI’s Shanghai-New York route, which was up 6% week on week, to end at $7,149 per 40ft. According to Drewry’s Container Capacity Insight, only four blanked sailings have been announced on the transpacific for the next week, “reflecting tight capacity” and analysts predicted further rises on both routes next week, due to new general rate increases (GRIs) and new bunker adjustment factors (BAFs) scheduled for 1 July. Today’s Shanghai Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI) – which records rates quoted for the forthcoming week and, as such, indicate the behaviour of the following week’s WCI (as it did last week) – shows spot rates to both North America east and west coasts climbing 7%. However, with the peak season clearly settling into a fortnightly pattern of sharp carrier-induced prices rise one week, followed by a plateauing the following week, the 7% increase for next week is far gentler than the double-digit hikes seen in May and June, and suggests the market could be nearing a price peak. It could also reflect more capacity coming into the trades – according to Xeneta, this week saw Asia-US west coast capacity up 10.5% on the previous week, up 12.1% on Asia-US east coast and up 11.9% on Asia-North Europe, the largest weekly increases seen since the Strait of Hormuz closed. “It has been a long time coming, but carriers have finally responded to spiralling spot rates and supply chain disruption on major ocean container shipping trades out of Asia by deploying significantly more capacity this week,” said Xeneta chief analyst Peter Sand. “This raises an uncomfortable question from shippers – why has it taken until now for carriers to act when they have endured months of triple-digit freight rate increases and delays in getting containers on board ships?” he added. On the Asia–Europe trades, the WCI’s Shanghai-Rotterdam leg rose 1%, to $4,392 per 40ft, while the Shanghai-Genoa leg was flat, at $5,759 per 40ft. “For shippers, more capacity is always welcome and will help them to get supply chains moving more reliably, but they should not expect this to translate into falling freight rates,” Mr Sand continued. “The only good news for shippers is that the situation is not as bad as it would otherwise have been, with spot rates expected to climb further, heading into July, but with slower growth than recent weeks,” he added. However, sharper increases are expected next week, with today’s SCFI showing a 12% increase on its Shanghai-North Europe base port leg and a 12.5% increase on the corresponding route to the Mediterranean. This would be pushed by new FAK (freight all kinds) levels due for 1 July, in addition to the new BAFs – in one example, CMA CGM new FAK rates of $6,300 per 40ft to North Europe and $7,700–$8,500 to the Mediterranean, as well as a PSS of $1,000 and $1,400 per teu to North Europe and the Mediterranean, respectively.

The combination of tight ocean capacity and an early peak season is causing transpacific shippers to consider shifting traffic to air cargo, but space constraints are limiting their options. This month the US National Retail Federation (NRF) declared, in its monthly Global Port Tracker, that the 2026 peak season for retail imports had arrived early this year, and upped its forecast for boxed imports in June to 2.25m teu, 14.3% higher than June 2025. “That’s partly driven by retailers bringing in merchandise early, because of higher costs from tariffs or fuel prices, that could start coming in August,” said Jonathan Gold, NRF VP for supply chain and customs policy. After a 17% jump in May, to 840,165 teu, the port of Los Angeles has projected container throughput this month to exceed 900,000 teu, driven by strong imports, while exports have declined. “Peak season demand out of Asia Pacific is arriving earlier and with greater intensity this year, particularly as shippers front‑load volumes ahead of anticipated cost increases and ongoing disruptions,” reported Niki Frank, CEO of DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific. “Demand is up around 4% year‑to‑date, driven by strong export momentum out of Asia.” Catherine Chien, chair of Dimerco, added: “A significant portion of the current volume appears to be front-loading. This has tightened vessel utilisation and supported higher ocean freight rates. “However, it also suggests that demand could soften later in the traditional peak season once inventory replenishment is complete,” she added. This tallies with the NRF’s projections of a relatively short peak season. “The current import surge will likely last into July, with an early peak season that resembles the more recent pattern of raised volume rather than a sharp peak,” said Ben Hackett, founder of Hackett Associates, in the Global Port Tracker. “After this, we expect a weakening in import volume as consumer uncertainty remains high and the impact of increasing inflation takes its toll.” Besides its early arrival and expected duration, this peak season is also different from past patterns in other aspects, Mr Frank added. “What is notable is not just the level of demand, but its dynamics. We see a more compressed peak, with customers booking earlier and often securing buffer capacity to manage uncertainty. This creates short bursts of tightness rather than a sustained peak, making planning significantly more complex.” Transpacific container capacity has been stretched and box rates have risen, Ms Chien reported, noting that this was partly the result of blanked sailings. And Mr Frank said: “Capacity constraints remain structural rather than purely cyclical. Nominal fleet capacity is still growing, but effective capacity remains tight as vessels are spending longer in transit due to re-routing, congestion, and slower sailing speeds.” Capacity constraints have been more pronounced in north and east China, Ms Chien noted, adding: “In South Korea, US-bound ocean rates and space pressure have also increased as carriers prioritise China cargo. “South-east Asia remains relatively manageable overall, although congestion in India and Thailand is affecting schedule reliability and adding pressure to regional supply chain,” she said. The situation has prompted shippers to consider moving US-bound freight by air instead. “There are clear signs that some shippers are actively exploring air freight solutions as an alternative to congested ocean routes, particularly as ongoing bottlenecks continue to disrupt supply chains,” reported Alan Dong, senior regional air manager at OEC Group. Mr Frank described such efforts as selective and tactical. “We are not seeing a broad shift from ocean to air, but rather targeted mode shifts for critical, high‑value, or time‑sensitive cargo such as semiconductors, electronics, and spare parts. This reflects a more mature response from shippers not over‑rotating into airfreight but using it as part of a multimodal strategy to protect critical supply chains – “a decision driven more by risk management and service continuity than by pure speed”, he commented. One factor limiting modal shift to air on a larger scale is capacity. Ms Chien pointed out: “Transpacific airfreight capacity remains tight across much of Asia, driven primarily by sustained demand from the semiconductor, AI server, data centre, and broader hi-tech sectors. “According to Aevean, Taiwan recorded 276% year-over-year air cargo volume growth in the first four months of the year, while Thailand’s AI-related exports rose 223% and Vietnam volumes increased 110%. This demand is continuing to absorb available capacity and keep airfreight rates elevated.” Capacity out of north and east China was also tight, she added, and lift out of Vietnam had “tightened significantly, with exports from both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to the US facing critical space constraints and elevated rates”. Mr Dong said: “Sudden flight cancellations, often issued without advance notice due to fuel shortages, have created significant backlogs across Asia. As a result, available space is being filled rapidly, with capacity selling out quickly, and freight rates rising almost overnight.” Dimerco is helping shippers navigate the capacity constraints through a combination of secured carrier capacity, proactive planning, and flexible routing options. Being a top-25 freight forwarder by volume with major Asia air and ocean carriers, it can maintain pre-booked block space agreements to secure uplift on tight lanes and during peak periods. It also evaluates alternative routings, cross-border trucking solutions in markets experiencing severe airport congestion, and China-Europe rail for suitable shipments, added Ms Chien. OEC also strives to offer its clients multiple routing options, but these are limited by the conflict in the Middle East, Mr Dong pointed out. “Some routings are becoming more viable again, but we believe it is still too early to consider them fully normalised. Given the ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, we continue to recommend a cautious, case-by-case approach when evaluating those routes,” Ms Chien said.

A series of container freight spot rate hikes and general rate increases implemented on 15 June prompted another week of double-digit price rises on the transpacific and Asia-Europe trades. This week’s World Container Index (WCI) from Drewry saw the spot rate on its Shanghai-Rotterdam leg surge 15% week-on-week to finish at $4,342 per 40ft, while the Shanghai-Genoa route was up 12% to $5,756 per 40ft. “Strong peak season demand due to frontloading of cargo ahead of the expected 1 July bunker fuel adjustment, enabled carriers to successfully implement surcharges,” Drewry noted. However, the WCI’s current Shanghai-Rotterdam rate is well shy of the $6,000 per 40ft FAK level that MSC introduced on 15 June, although marginally closer on the Shanghai-Genoa, where its new FAK was $6,500 per 40ft. The world’s largest container line has announced a further FAK hike on 1 July of $7,500 per 40ft to both North Europe and Mediterranean ports, which is quite aggressive compared to the $6,300 per 40ft on Asia-North Europe announced by CMA CGM, also for 1 July. The timing of the next round of FAK hikes also suggests that the remaining weeks of this year’s peak season will be characterised by double-digit spot rate rises on a fortnightly basis, with the interim weeks either flat or seeing low single-digit rises. Indeed, today’s Shanghai Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI) – which records rates quoted for the forthcoming week, and as such can indicate the behaviour of the following week’s WCI (as it did last week) – recorded a 2% gain on the Shanghai-North Europe leg and 3% on Shanghai-Mediterranean. “We are expecting increases for the first half July and expect the rates to peak in July before they start to soften again – but I don’t expect them to go as high as MSC hopes for,” one European forwarder toldThe Loadstartoday. And while current capacity on both Asia-North Europe and Asia-Mediterranean trades is tight – according to Drewry’s Container Capacity Insight, only three blank sailings have been announced on Asia-Europe next week – there had been fears that the decision pf the Gemini partners to shift capacity from North Europe to the Mediterranean could leave Northern European shippers squeezed. However, the forwarder added that “the shift of some capacity to the Med is welcome, but any effect on the North Europe routes, I think, will be short lived as things start to calm down”. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has also been a key factor, data from ocean and air freight intelligence platform Xeneta shows: Source: Xeneta In the past week alone, rates on its XSI platform jumped up by 29% on Far East to US west coast and 25% to the US east coast. The WCI moved in the same direction, although more moderately – its Shanghai-Los Angeles was up 10% week-on-week to $5,142 per 40ft, and Shanghai-New York rose 15% to $6,769 per 40ft. “Shippers are frontloading imports ahead of bunker fuel surcharge increases in July and fears over available capacity, with many being told ships are full on trades out of Asia for weeks in advance,” Xeneta chief analysts Peter Sand said. “Shippers who manage to get their boxes on board are paying a premium to do so,” he added. However, one interesting dynamic is that next week will see six blank sailings the transpacific, according to Drewry, “reflecting capacity management by carriers”, and could suggest lines see some demand weakness on the long-term horizon and are already acting to maintain rate levels. “Shippers should abandon expectations for a quick rate correction – carriers have just successfully pushed rates into the $6,000–$7,000-plus range and will be highly resistant to lowering them, likely citing ongoing market uncertainty to justify keeping current fuel surcharges and base rates intact,” US west coast freight forwarder Freight Right said. “Furthermore, because booking backlogs are already stretching lead times out significantly, with some agents quoting the beginning of July as the earliest available space, shippers must plan and book several weeks in advance to secure equipment and vessel space,” it added.

The sharprise in transpacific spot ratescould prompt a fresh influx of non-alliance container services on the Asia-US west coast trade, according to new analysis from Sea-Intelligence. In itsSunday Spotlight, the analyst examined a potential relationship between freight rate levels and the amount of capacity operated by carriers outside the major vessel-sharing alliances, finding a strong correlation stretching back more than a decade. Using data from its Trade Capacity Outlook database, Sea-Intelligence tracked weekly capacity deployed between Asia and the North American west coast from 2015 through to the end of August 2026. The data shows a dramatic spike in non-alliance capacity during the pandemic boom, when freight rates surged to record highs. Conversely, non-alliance services were among the first to be withdrawn during the early stages of the subsequent downturn. “High freight rates often result in an influx of smaller, niche carriers. And conversely, that low freight rates result in these smaller carriers withdrawing from what is seen as an unprofitable market,” Sea-Intelligence explained. A four-week rolling average of capacity deployment, compared against weekly Shanghai-Los Angeles spot rates from Drewry’s World Container Index showed an 83% correlation with spot rates after a 15-week lag. Source: Sea-Intelligence “It would therefore be correct to conclude that there is a quite strong correlation between spot rates and the non-alliance market share of the operated capacity… it mainly takes some 15 weeks before we see rate changes reflected in capacity deployment,” said Sea-Intelligence. A predictive model based solely on spot rate developments also closely matched actual non-alliance market share over time. Source: Sea-Intelligence However, the analyst explained that, since the launch of the industry’s new alliance structure in early 2025, non-alliance capacity had remained around five percentage points below the level predicted by the model. Source: Sea-Intelligence Sea-Intelligence said recent increases in transpacific rates had yet to translate into announcements of new independent services. Nevertheless, if the relationship observed since 2015 continued to hold, the market could soon see a significant injection of capacity. The analyst concluded: “We should therefore expect announcements of sizeable injections of new transpacific services to the west coast by either non-alliance carriers or by alliance carriers launching [their] own services outside the scope of their alliances.” Meanwhile, James Hookham, director of the Global Shippers Forum toldThe Loadstar Podcastthat the concentration of market share held by the four alliances, and 10 carriers, should be of concern to shippers. “The dynamic is obviously, and always has been, in shipping lines’ favour, given the concentration of market power there,” he said. “In the long run, this has got to be of concern to everyone in the industry. We shouldn’t have a power dynamic; we should have genuine partnerships.” Watch the latest episode of News in Brief on YouTube and subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Container spot freight rates on the transpacific and Asia-Europe trades rose for the sixth consecutive week, although the sharp increases seen last week have tapered a little. As has become the norm since the Red Sea crisis led to the effective closure of the Suez Canal for most Asia-Europe and several Asia-North America east coast strings, the summer peak season has fully arrived a good month early. “The reality is that we are seeing shippers and importers booking large volumes of containers due to the ‘long way around’ the Cape, adding to transit times versus Suez, still nonexistent in reality. So there is a peak in demand against this global backdrop that has changed shippers’ strategies, with critical paths adjusted to accommodate longer transits,” one large European freight forwarder toldThe Loadstar. “Peak season has shifted and the just-in-case concept is back in favour over just-in-time. Retailers want stock in to flog it while avoiding the air freight mode and its higher costs,” he added. This week’s World Container Index (WCI) from Drewry Freight saw the rate on its Shanghai-Rotterdam leg rise 5%, to $3,768 per 40ft, while its Shanghai-Genoa route was up just 1%, to $5,139 per 40ft. Source: Drewry World Container Index With Asia-Europe sailings for the remainder of June already heavily booked, carriers are pressing ahead with another spot rate hike next week, with MSC’s new FAK (freight all kinds), for implementation on 15 June, of $6,000 per 40ft to North Europe and $6,500 per 40ft to West Mediterranean ports. These hikes would appear to have a good chance of sticking, as today’s Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI) – which records rates quoted for the forthcoming week and, as such, can indicate the direction of the following week’s WCI (as it did last week) – recorded a 15.5% % gain on the Shanghai-North Europe leg and 11.5% on Shanghai-Mediterranean. The spot rate rises are being accompanied by a variety of peak season surcharges (PSSs) on shipments under long-term contracts – CMA CGM and ONE are two carriers that have announced PSSs of $1,000–$1,200 per 40ft – also effective on 15 June. Another European forwarder toldThe Loadstar: “I can’t help thinking that some of the hype around moving into a peak season is a little manufactured by the carriers – I do think we’ve entered a peak season, just not one necessarily as strong as the carriers are making out. “We are seeing a rise in demand, and we are seeing an increase in bookings, which was expected at some point with shippers delaying for a period to see how the Middle East situation would evolve. But whether the demand is enough to justify the introduction of the high PSS levels on contracts, I’m not sure. “Carriers are blanking sailings and omitting ports in Asia, and being more controlling with allocation agreements, with some rollings,” she added. Forwarders also report some carriers reverting to the familiar tactic of “reducing allocations and then advising if overbooked that the FAK or higher tariffs will apply”. With June largely booked, the focus for carriers and customers is turning to July’s demand-supply ratio, with MSC this week unveiling a new FAK rate for 1 July of $7,500 per 40ft to North Europe and the Mediterranean. “Carriers are saying they are full for the whole of June, and some are saying they’re fully committed for July also – but then again, they would do, in the current market, to keep the pressure on rates. “This is on all key routes and lanes: TP, westbound Asia and everything in between,” a forwarder toldThe Loadstar. While pricing on the transpacific trades behaved in a similar fashion to Asia-Europe – the WCI’s Shanghai-New York rate was up 7% week on week, to $5,870 per 40ft, while the Shanghai-Los Angeles leg was up 3%, to finish at $4,683 per 40ft – new carrier rate increases announced this week for July look very hefty. The standout was a “shock-and awe” PSS announcement from CMA CGM of a $4,000 per 40ft surcharge on all Asia-US shipments from 10 July, indicating that transpacific freight costs could soar next month. US west coast forwarder Freight Right noted that US shippers were “grappling with immense confusion and marketing anxiety regarding impending July tariff change”, and explained: “The current market strain represents an early, highly compressed peak season, rather than the traditional timeline typically seen later in the year. “This elevated rate environment is expected to persist through the remainder of June and throughout July, as ocean carriers are highly unlikely to voluntarily relinquish their pricing leverage,” it said.

Mexicana de Aviación has had to drop its plans to run charters to US cities hosting games for the football World Cup. The Mexican airline applied for traffic rights to operate charters to carry passengers, freight and mail between Mexico and the US for the duration of the event this month to meet the demand from fans, sponsors, media groups, logistics operators and team delegations. For the airline, reborn in 2023 under the auspices of Mexico’s defence ministry after its 2010 bankruptcy, the planned flights would have marked its entry into the US market at scale. It applied to operate a mix of 737-800 and Embraer E195 aircraft on routes connecting Mexico City, Guadalajara. and Monterrey with US cities hosting the football event, including Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Dallas, and Houston. The US Department of Transportation (DoT) confirmed in March it had received the application, but last week Mexicana management announced it had been informed it would not be able to complete the application process before the DoT deadline. CEO Leobardo Ávila Bojórquez told media the company would continue to work with the US authorities with a view to later cross-border operations, and dismissed suggestions that the delay was linked to measures taken by the US regulator last year against Mexican airlines. The DoT had accused the Mexican authorities of violating the US-Mexico aviation bilateral when it reduced landing slots at Mexico City’s Benito Juarez Airport (AICM) and banned freighter operations at the chronically congested gateway, claiming that the loss of slots and the move of freighter operations to Felipe Angeles International Airport (AFIA) cost US airlines millions of dollars. In retaliation, last October the US imposed a ban on new cross-border routes from Mexico City for Mexican airlines, as well as on frequency increases, and revoked 13 route authorisations for them. It also ordered the dissolution of the joint-venture between Aeromexico and Delta Air Lines. According to one airline executive, lead times for cross-border charters have been longer since then. After talks with Mexican aviation officials early last month, US transportation secretary Duffy announced that the two sides had “made progress” toward resolving the stand-off, and agreed conditions for the use of the Mexican capital’s airports for air cargo. However, he said, the US restrictions would remain in place until the Mexican authorities had converted their promises into action. Mexican airlines had given up six take-off and landing slots at AICM as part of the negotiations. UPS announced on 29 May it would offer time-definite heavy airfreight services to/from Mexico from August as part of the expansion of its ‘North American Air Freight’ Network. Shippers will be able to choose between one- two- and three-day service options to and from Mexico. The restrictions placed on Mexican carriers were a factor in a decline in throughput at AIFA last year. Over the first 11 months of last year, the nation’s top airfreight gateway suffered a 10.8% drop in volumes, as the overall national tonnage shrank 3.7%. Business picked up this year, with overall cargo rising 7.3% in the first two months, while AIFA’s tonnage surged 17.4%, cementing its position as one of the top three cargo gateways in Latin America, behind Bogotá’s El Dorado and Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos. According to the government, this improvement was largely due to technology integration, and faster customs processing. In a recent meeting with government officials, several airlines reportedly expressed ambitions to increase their operations at AIFA, but much will hinge on progress with Washington. Although recent talks with US officials on the renewal of the USMCA free-trade agreement appeared to be going well, there are signals that the pact will not be renewed by 1 July, which opens the door to continuing uncertainty on this front. For air cargo with a stake or ambitions in cross-border traffic, at least some clarity on this aspect would be helpful to chart their course going forward. Perhaps Mexicana could have some progress on this front, although it stands to lose out on the World Cup bonanza. Check out today’sNews in Briefpodcast, featuring exclusive content from Glyn Hughes, DG, TIACA, andThe Loadstar‘s Gavin van Marle

Peak season is now fully under way, after a week in which spot rates on the transpacific and Asia-Europe trades all posted hefty increases. With pressure rising over the past couple of weeks as demand strengthened against tightish capacity, carriers were handed an opportunity to push through a series of FAK (freight all kinds) levels for the spot market, as well as new peak season surcharges for contracted shippers. Implemented on 1 June, these increases had a material effect on spot rate indices this week, with the Shanghai-Rotterdam leg on Drewry’s World Container Index (WCI) seeing a 25% week-on-week gain, to finish at $3,579 per 40ft, while the Shanghai-Genoa route was up 20% on the previous week, to $5,089 per 40ft. As previously reported byThe Loadstar, part of June’s demand surge is due to contracted shippers pulling forward shipments to avoid the 1 July publication of carrier’s third-quarter bunker adjustment factors (BAFs), which are expected to show severe increases due to escalating fuel costs promoted by the closure of the Hormuz Strait. One major European forwarder toldThe Loadstaranother factor was the elongated transit times that are now the norm on the Asia-Europe trades. “We have seen a noticeable uplift in demand following discussions with several customers whose volumes have increased earlier than expected; this is effectively bringing peak season demand forward, driven largely by poor schedule reliability, with customers preferring to receive stock early rather than risk late arrival,” he explained. However, he added that while shippers and forwarders may be shocked by this week’s pricing spike, further rises this month may be more modest. “Our expectation for the second half of June is an increase of approximately $500 per teu, compared with the first half – at this stage, I do not anticipate that most carriers will push beyond this level in a single adjustment. “While we have not seen allocation reductions, there have been some rollovers, and June space is now effectively full. We are still able to secure space for the occasional container, but availability is otherwise extremely limited,” he said. That would broadly chime with the further hikes so far announced by carriers, with Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk, for example, introducing further Asia-Europe PSSs on 8 and 10 June, ranging from $300 to $500 per teu. Meanwhile, today’s Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI), which records rates quoted for the forthcoming week, and as such can indicate the direction of the following week’s WCI (as it did last week), recorded a 4% gain on the Shanghai-North Europe leg and just 1.5% on Shanghai-Mediterranean. There were even stronger gains on the transpacific, where the Shanghai-Los Angeles leg rose 31% week on week, to finish at $4,565 per 40ft, while the Shanghai-New York route was up 20%, to $5,505 per 40ft. Since Chinese New Year, prices on the trade had been maintained by strict carrier capacity management, but now there appears to be new demand drivers, according to Drewry. “Demand is being supported by shippers bringing forward bookings ahead of potential US tariff changes expected in July and additional cargo demand linked to the FIFA World Cup,” the analyst said. “Retailers are also replenishing inventories earlier than normal in preparation for major sales events, including Amazon Prime Day and TikTok’s mid-year promotions in June and July. “Carriers successfully implemented PSSs on transpacific eastbound trade routes this month. With peak season now under way and seasonal demand strengthening, Drewry expects further upwards pressure on rates in the coming weeks,” it added. However, by far the most eye-watering PSS announced so far has been from CMA CGM, which is pushing for a $2,600 per 40ft hike from 1 July on the East Mediterranean-North America East Coast transatlantic trade. It has also announced a rate restoration initiative for 2 July, of $600 per 40ft, on North Europe-North America shipments. This week’s Rotterdam-New York rate on the WCI was $2,560 per 40ft, up 5% on the week before.

Until last week, airlines moving between Latin America and North America were looking forward to the football world cup tournament in happy anticipation of surging passenger numbers and augmented cargo flows – but then Washington injected a heavy dose of uncertainty into the picture. First, Markwayne Mullin, the new head of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), threatened to withdraw customs and immigration personnel from Newark Liberty International Airport, because of the city’s ‘unsupportive stance” on his department’s campaign to remove illegal immigrants. Reducing airport security personnel at one of the major US gateways (and a hub of United Airlines) threatened to cripple flows of passengers and cargo into the region and set off alarm bells across the travel and air cargo industries. Moreover, the announcement caused worries that the DHS would repeat the exercise at other “sanctuary cities”, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, and Philadelphia. After strong protests from airlines, tourism organisations, and business lobbies, Mr Mullin u-turned on Monday, declaring he saw no need to reduce DHS personnel at Newark any longer. after some concessions from New Jersey state officials. But on the same day, US trade representative Jamieson Greer announced that Brazil was in violation of Section 301 of the Trade Act and proposed a 25% tariff on a number of imports from the South American nation. Some strategic products are excluded, but Brazilian forwarders and shippers again face uncertainty how business with the US is going to develop. In the southern hemisphere, airline and travel industry executives in Peru scored a partial victory on 2 June when the nation’s Transport and Communications Ministry and Lima Airport Partners agreed to scrap a controversial transit tax for passengers moving through Lima’s Jorge Chávez Airport. However, they only cancelled the charge on domestic flights, and maintained the $11.86 levy on international travellers, despite protests from interest groups including IATA, which warned that it could reduce passenger transits by 11%, which could translate into the loss of thousands of flights a year. The measure is somewhat ironic, as the Peruvian government has been one of the more proactive in the region in pursuing open skies with other countries, most recently with Panama and Australia. Critics of the transit tax have blamed it for a 10.8% drop in passenger numbers on the Lima-Santiago route in April, a sector that had shown consistent growth in recent years. Reduced flight activity on the route would reduce options for Chilean exporters, notably salmon shippers, to move their fish to international markets. Chile exports over $6bn worth of salmon to over 100 markets around the globe, and the industry has been frustrated with constraints at Santiago’s Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport. Industry groups accuse the airport of funnelling all investment into passenger development and neglecting cargo, arguing that this has undermined the airport’s competitive position vis-à-vis other air cargo gateways in South America through high operating costs and congestion during peak shipping times. The airport slipped one notch in the Latin American cargo rankings last year, overtaken by Quito’s Mariscal Surcre International Airport claiming fourth place behind El Dorado (Bogotá), Guarulhos (Sao Paulo) and Felipe Angeles (Mexico City). Quito’s tonnage, 92% of which was flower exports, grew 11% last year. The airport’s connectivity to the US grew in April, after Avianca Cargo signed an agreement with Amazon to take over northbound capacity on five new weekly flights of the e-commerce giant’s freighter arm, between the Ecuadorian capital and Miami. It was the second arrangement of this kind between them, following a capacity agreement on the Bogotá-Miami sector last year. The deal gave Avianca additional capacity to haul flowers to the US for Mother’s Day. Last year the carrier added two weekly flights from Quito via Miami to Maastricht and Zaragoza. According to the most recent data from WorldACD, tonnage from Central/ South America to North America fell 20% between 11 and 24 May from the preceding fortnight, reflecting the end of the Mother’s Day flower rush, which sent rates 13% lower. The region’s global export volume in the 11-24 May window was down 13% from the prior fortnight, but 6% higher year on year, while rates declined 5%, but were up 10% year on year. Shippers and carriers in the region must hope they will be spared more sudden policy announcements from Washington while they are moving passengers and cargo to the host nations of the football event.

US tariffs will support elevated ocean freight rates going into October, according to Wan Hai Lines’ GM, Tommy Hsieh (pictured above right). The 10% tariff imposed on US imports globally had caused Asian shippers to front-load before it expired next month, he told the company’s AGM on Friday.. Furthermore, Taiwan’s parliament, the Executive Yuan, has announced that the US would be likely to cap tariffs on imports of auto parts and wood-derivative products from the island, at 15%. Additionally, imports of steel, aluminium and copper-derivative products used in aircraft components would be exempted from tariffs under Section 232 of the US Trade Expansion Act. Mr Hsieh said: “These goods are among the cargo shipped by Wan Hai, and the tariffs would support shipping demand. Given current market conditions, it won’t be easy to bring down freight rates.” The peak season for container shipping, typically between July and October, came early as Asian shippers, concerned with tightening vessel supply amid the US/Israel-Iran conflict, are moving out goods early to the US and Europe. On 18 May, Wan Hai and ONE jointly launched a transpacific service, which the Taiwanese operator is marketing as Asia Pacific 2 (AP2). Calling at Qingdao, Ningbo, Los Angeles, Oakland, and Qingdao, it will turn in six weeks and will initially deploy five ships with one skipped sailing in each cycle. ONE will operate three ships and Wan Hai will deploy two, starting with the 4,680 teuWan Hai 517. Besides the early peak season, Mr Hsieh said that the US/Israel-Iran conflict had nearly depleted inventories of consumer goods in the Middle East, a trend that should also support container shipping. “Restocking began in May, leading to congestion at some Red Sea ports and spillover effects to ports in India and Singapore, which also helped support rising freight rates. We expect freight rates to stay high into October,” he said. For Q1 26, Wan Hai’s revenue was down 9% from Q1 25, to $1.05bn (TW$33.64bn), while net profit declined 12%, to $240.3m. A dividend of TW$3 per share was declared.

Forwarders are warning that the recent recovery in spot rates on the transpacific and Asia-Europe trades could see prices rise even more sharply over the next few weeks. High demand combined with tight capacity is now also allowing carriers to push through peak season surcharges on shipments under long-term contracts, and forwarders said shippers had little option but to pay up if they want freight loaded. “’Pay to play’ is back – the carriers smell blood and are lapping it up like a ravenous Count Dracula at the abattoir on slaughter day,” one forwarder toldThe Loadstar. While this week’s World Container Index (WCI) from Drewry showed relatively modest gains over the previous week, forwarders believe significant further increases are on the way. The WCI’s Shanghai-Rotterdam route rose 3% week on week, to $2,861 per 40ft, while the Shanghai-Genoa increased 4% to $4,253 per 40ft. A key factor behind the recent strong demand is understood to be larger shippers under long-term contracts which saw them protected from the swathe of emergency fuel surcharges introduced after the closure of Hormuz. That protection is set to expire on 1 July, when carriers will set new BAFs for the next quarter – expected to be far higher than current levels. As a result, shippers have tried to pull-forward as many shipments in advance of that as possible, leading to a demand spike in June. “The main reason volumes are increasing massively in June, with a lot of customers trying to pull orders forward, is because the big BCOs, that have long-term deals, won’t have been paying EBS during the last couple of months. But from 1 July, the bunker factor in their contracts is going to go through the roof,” another forwarder said. Today’s Shanghai Containerised Freight Index, which shows rates quoted for the forthcoming week, reflects this, with the Shanghai-North Europe base port leg up 30% over last week, to $2,475 per teu, and up 17% to the Mediterranean. Effectively, forwarders said, the Asia-North Europe market is expected to begin June at around the $4,000 per 40ft (high-cubed) mark, and every indication is that it will continue to rise over the course of the month, given current levels of demand. While several carriers have announced new 1 June FAK rates nearing $5,000 per 40ft on Asia-North Europe, MSC yesterday announced an FAK price of $6,000 per 40ft to North Europe and $6,500 to the West Mediterranean from 15 June. After weeks of questioning whether demand and capacity matched, to support the FAK attempts, forwarders now believe the increases coming down the line could very well stick. “We’re expecting the spot market out of Asia to Europe in the second half of June, even into July, could reach $6,000 or $7,000 [per 40ft]. The signs are that the 15 June FAK will stick – because you cannot get space in the second half of June in the market,” one forwarder toldThe Loadstar. And this will also hit contract shippers that were warned they could face continuing peak season surcharge revisions. On 1 June, CMA CGM will implement a $500 per teu PSS, and on 8 June Hapag-Lloyd will follow suit. “The carriers have also said they will not cap the 1 June PSS, and it will be reviewed every two weeks. I suspect it could go up in mid-June, it could go up again in July… it’s going to go in that direction,” the forwarder added. It is a similar situation on the transpacific, where the recent decision of CMA CGM to pull its Columbus JAX service from South-east Asia to the US east coast means capacity has been cut by over 10,000 teu a week according to Linerlytica, appears to have prompted carriers to take a far more aggressive approach to rate negotiations. Although this week’s WCI saw single-digit gains – its Shanghai-New York leg was up 6%, to $4,597 per 40ft, while Shanghai-Los Angeles increased 3%, to $3,473 per 40ft – US west coast forwarder FreightRight described the last week of May as “as the calm before an impending storm”. “Multiple major carriers have issued aggressive general rate increase (GRI) indications for June – the structural setup for June points toward a brutal, highly compressed freight environment. “Shippers should expect volume numbers to slide as non-essential importers choose to pause and wait out the market spikes until July, or later,” it added. Transpacific trade sources also toldThe Loadstarthat carrier contract offers that had been on the table two weeks ago had largely been withdrawn before forwarders had a chance to file them with the FMC, with new offers tabled that would force them into loss-making territory – although at the moment they see little prospect of rates receding. “Some of the carriers are expecting this issue to continue for the whole of June, the whole of July, and possibly into the end of August,” one said.

The Canadian government has been aggressively pursuing trade agreements with partners around the world to reduce the economy’s reliance on US trade, and is pouring money into transport infrastructure to support this. However, a new study raises questions about the nation’s ability to boost maritime traffic. With little over a month before the deadline for renewal of the USMCA trade pact, manufacturers in all three nations have appealed to their governments to preserve the framework – but Canada and the US haven’t even begun negotiations. Various demands from the US for concessions ahead of the talks have been rejected by Ottawa, with prime minister Mark Carney saying serious negotiations could resolve both sides’ concerns fairly quickly, but that Washington was not ready owing to other pressing issues. He added that some governments that had rushed into agreements with the US to avert tariffs subsequently were disappointed with their trade deals. Meanwhile, Ottawa is pushing ahead with its objective to double non-US exports by 2035. Its diplomatic offensive to strike trade agreements with the EU and Mercosur blocs as well as China, India, Australia, and other nations, has been flanked by the creation of a Trade Diversification Corridors Fund (TDCF), which will receive C$5bn ($3.61bn) over seven years, to beef up transport and logistics infrastructure. “By investing in the infrastructure that moves our products to global markets, this fund will strengthen supply chains, unlock new export opportunities, and build a more resilient, diversified economy,” states the administration’s Budget 2025. Over the coming four years, another C$1bn will be poured into Ottawa’s new Arctic Infrastructure Fund. While ports stand to figure prominently in the TDCF, money will also go to inland elements like rail and trucking, noted Julia Kuzeljevich, director of policy and regulatory affairs at the Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association. It is not clear at this point how funding would be allocated, she noted. A new research paper, produced by the Bank of Canada, raises questions over the nation’s maritime links’ ability to support the government’s ambitious trade development plans. It points out that the top ports had suffered a decline in connections since 2016. Over the past ten years, deadweight tonnage at Canadian ports has shrunk from 167m tonnes in 2016 to 119m last year, a 28% decline. And connectivity to 11 trading partners was lost, resulting in a decline of 6m tonnes in capacity, while connections to 18 new trading partners added only about 3m tonnes. This loss in connectivity increases the chance of disruption at distant hubs on domestic markets and prices, as Canada’s trade relies more on indirect traffic flows, the report warns. According to the authors, one factor for the decline was the limited capacity of Canadian ports to handle ultra-large containerships, as they cannot accommodate vessels of over 15,000 teu. Hence a large chunk of the imports from South-east Asia is routed via the Los Angeles/Long Beach port complex. However, the main driver is the development of global trade flows, which have grown the fastest in Asia. Not only Canadian ports, but also their US counterparts, have fallen in the global connectivity charts, according to the bank report. Three US gateways ranked among the top 10 most-connected ports in the world in 2016, but none remained in the top 10 by 2023, while the number of East Asian ports in that bracket rose from six to eight. “The North American problem doesn’t have an easy fix for Canada and, despite our attempts to diversify trade, many decisions regarding ship calls to North American ports will rely on the strength of US trade with others. Shipping lines won’t necessarily consider Canada’s very small market in isolation,” said Ms Kuzeljevich. A study produced by the Simon Fraser Institute argues that labour relations is an aspect that should be addressed. “Ottawa must also take action on the labour relations front,” its authors wrote. “The challenge here is to improve the actual and perceived reliability of Canada’s trade gateways, notably on the west coast, where a pattern of strikes and other labour disruptions has damaged Canada’s reputation as a reliable supplier, raised import costs for Canadian households and businesses, and prompted some shippers to redirect their business to competing North American gateways.” Ms Kuzeljevich concurred: “Yes, we will continue to rely on transhipments if we do not solve our labour reliability, which is always mentioned as a concern in international circles.” Canada’s west coast gateways of Vancouver and Prince Rupert have actually fared well in the first quarter this year. According to Sea-Intelligence, their containerised imports climbed 9% and 7.8% respectively, outperforming US west coast ports. A large chunk of this traffic is headed to the US, though. The future of USMCA and the marriage of Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern creating a transcontinental US rail giant will be significant factors shaping flows through Canada’s ports.

Container spot rate pricing momentum was firmly behind Asia-Europe carriers this week, with double-digit increases seen on the routes into North Europe and the Mediterranean. This week’s World Container Index (WCI) from Drewry showed how the 15 May FAK (freight all kinds) rate levels implemented by carriers continued to stick this week; the WCI’s Shanghai-Rotterdam leg was up 15% week on week, to end at $2,773 per 40ft, while the Shanghai-Genoa route increased 10%, to finish at $4,082 per 40ft. The price increases were also supported by strong demand, as the trade appears poised to replicate last year’s early peak season. “According to Drewry’s Container Capacity Insight, only three blanked sailings have been announced on the Asia to Europe trade route for next week, indicating higher capacity deployment to accommodate peak season cargo. “As the early peak season looms, with carriers continuing to raise FAK levels, Drewry expects rates to increase further in the coming weeks,” it said. Source: Drewry This week also saw carriers announce new FAK rates levels for 1 June implementation, with CMA CGM following MSC’s announcement last week of $4,700 per 40ft to North Europe, and Mediterranean shipments in the range of $5,500–$5,700 per 40ft; while Hapag-Lloyd is going for $4,300 to North Europe and $5,500 to the west Mediterranean. On top of that, CMA CGM has also unveiled a $500 per teu peak season surcharge on the Asia-North Europe trade, from 1 June. “Overall shipping demand increased this week – liner companies subsequently announced freight rate hikes for early June, further boosting market shipping sentiment,” a port source in Ningbo toldThe Loadstar. At this week’s TOC Europe event in Hamburg, DHL Global Forwarding’s senior VP of global ocean freight LCL, Markus Panhauser, predicted spot rates would rise further over coming weeks. “The strong demand is driving that,” he said, adding: “Look at the short-term rates, the SCFI last Friday jumped, we jump again next week, and it will jump again the week after, because the Christmas season started to shift. “The transatlantic is strong and the transpacific is also recovering, so if you look at global trade from a carrier’s point of view, the recovery of freight rates is predominantly about demand rather than blank sailings,” he told delegates. The WCI’s transpacific routes saw spot rates grow more moderately than Asia-Europe this week, with the Shanghai-Los Angeles leg up 1% week on week, to $3,385 per 40ft, while the Shanghai-New York route grew 2%, to $4,317 per 40ft. Drewry added that it expected to see the peak season also arrive early on transpacific trades, citing ONE’s 1 June PSS of $2,000 per 40ft as an example. Analysts at Linerlytica also noted that Amazon rearranging its summer sale to take place a month early was also creating a mini-peak in demand. “Transpacific rate hikes on 15 May are sticking, with space remaining tight on the back of increased e-commerce cargo, driven partly by Amazon’s decision to move its Prime Day sale from July to June, which has created a compressed window for cross-border shipments. “The increased demand has already prompted Maersk to add a seasonal USWC extra loader service, with more expected to follow,” it added. However, at the same time, carriers have continued restrict proforma capacity: according to Drewry, seven blanked sailings are due on the transpacific next week, “indicating tighter capacity and creating scope for carriers to implement higher FAK rates”. MSC today announced two more blanked sailings on its Asia-US east coast network, with the America service due to be skipped in week 23 and the Empire service to be skipped in week 24.

The Hormuz crisis has upended normal container freight rate seasonality, according to Sea-Intelligence analysis, with spot rates on major east-west trades rebounding sharply instead of following the customary post-Chinese New Year decline. According to the consultancy, the disruption has been particularly pronounced on the transpacific, where spot rates are now hundreds of dollars per 40ft above levels normally expected at this point in the seasonal cycle. Using Drewry’s World Container Index (WCI) data from 2013 to 2025, Sea-Intelligence analysed seasonal rate movements around Chinese New Year (CNY), defining “week 0” as the period immediately preceding the holiday and examining freight rate developments from the 15 weeks before CNY to the 15 weeks after. Rates on the Shanghai-Los Angeles trade typically peaked three weeks before CNY, as shippers rushed cargo out before the factory holiday shutdowns.Historically, the holiday is followed by a sustained seasonal slump, but the consultancy said 2026 had deviated sharply from that pattern. “Not only was the slump prior to the CNY peak deeper than usual, but we also saw it was followed by yet another unusually deep slump after Chinese New Year,” Sea-Intelligence noted. “Then it is followed by a steep, sustained, increase after the onset of the Hormuz crisis.” To account for the earlier-than-normal decline this year, Sea-Intelligence shifted 2026 data by three weeks, to compare it more accurately with the historical seasonal patterns. The consultancy then calculated the gap between expected “normal” seasonal spot rates and actual market developments, which it described as a potential “Hormuz premium”. Source: Sea-Intelligence “We see a strong steady increase, and are presently at a level which is $735 per 40ft higher than what would have been expected seasonally,” the report said. A similar pattern was observed on the Shanghai-New York trade and, after adjusting for the same three-week seasonal shift, Sea-Intelligence calculated a current Hormuz premium of $864 per 40ft on the US east coast route. Source: Sea-Intelligence However, the Europe trades showed a more mixed picture. On the Asia-North Europe corridor, the deviation from normal seasonality emerged earlier, with a two-week offset rather than three, while post-CNY declines were less severe than on the transpacific. Source: Sea-Intelligence Sea-Intelligence said the impact of the Hormuz crisis on North Europe rates had also been “a lot more volatile”.It found North Europe’s Hormuz premium initially surged to around $600 per 40ft, before disappearing completely, only to re-emerge recently as spot rates climbed again. The latest premium was calculated at $245 per 40ft. Source: Sea-Intelligence Meanwhile, the Mediterranean trade displayed even sharper swings. Source: Sea-Intelligence “We see how the early premium peaked at $844 per 40ft, dropped to zero, but has now come back at $811,” Sea-Intelligence said. Despite the strong correlation between the timing of the Hormuz crisis and the reversal in freight rate seasonality, the consultancy cautioned that:“First, it must be mentioned that the changes could also be due to other factors than just the Hormuz crisis. “This could be localised developments in supply and/or demand, as an example. “However, the break from seasonality does appear to coincide with the outbreak of the Hormuz crisis, and it can therefore be justified, for now, to call it a Hormuz premium.” Watch the latest episode of The Loadstar’s News in Brief and subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Container spot rates on the transpacific and Asia-Europe trades posted double-digit increases this week on the back of new FAK rate levels, peak season surcharges, and tighter capacity. This week’s World Container Index (WCI) from Drewry recorded an 11% week-on-week increase on the Shanghai-Rotterdam leg, to end at $2,413 per 40ft, while the Shanghai-Genoa route was up 20% on the previous week, to finish $3,701 per 40ft. “The Asia-Europe peak season is expected to start earlier than usual, as higher cargo bookings, tight vessel space, and disruptions linked to the US/Israel-Iran conflict are prompting shippers to move cargo earlier. “As demand is rebounding, Drewry expects rates to increase further in the coming week,” the analyst said. Carriers are certainly preparing to introduce more price rises in a couple of weeks, with MSC notifying customers this week of new FAK (freight all kinds) rates of $4,700 per 40ft to North Europe and $5,500 for both East and West Mediterranean destinations on 1 June. However, market reaction was mixed on how successful further increases will be. One UK forwarder toldThe Loadstarthey “have been hearing the carriers are expecting a peak season – some are talking June, some July”. However, they questioned whether demand could support higher spot rates. “All carriers are looking for GRIs from mid-May. We have noticed an uplift in volumes, however nothing significant for the current levels of GRI to stick at these initial published levels, and I expect reductions,” one said, adding that threats of rollovers at Asian loading ports had yet to materialise. “We have seen rolling lists issued, but only on the smaller Premier Alliance vessels heading into Southampton, and we have not experienced issues with getting the shipments loaded on board.” However, capacity on both trades this week was down 5% on last week, according to data from freight rate benchmarking platform Xeneta. According to Xeneta chief analyst Peter Sand, while Asia-Europe spot rates continue to hover at levels similar to the outbreak of the Iran conflict, transpacific spot rates are up 50% on pre-war levels, which he described as a “plateau”, and argued they would decline as the annual contracting season on the trade draws to a close. However, this week’s WCI shows transpacific spot rates also showing strong gains, with its Shanghai-Los Angeles route up 10% week on week, to $3,357 per 40ft, while the Shanghai-New York leg increased 14%, to $4,252 per 40ft, which Drewry attributed to “the implementation of emergency fuel and peak season surcharges by carriers”, while also keeping capacity in check – seven blanked sailings have been announced on the transpacific next week. Mr Sand said: “One factor behind the short-term market plateau on the transpacific is US shippers delaying signing new long-term contracts, due to the uncertainty caused by the Middle East crisis and the risk of locking-in rates for the next 12 months at a higher level than necessary. “For every delayed contract, more containers must be moved on the spot market, and carriers will charge a premium – but for shippers, the short-term pain is worth it if they ultimately secure lower long-term rates in the coming weeks. “As new long-term contracts are finalised and come into force, volumes will shift back to contracted rates and that should translate into a softening of the short-term market. “This will be gradual softening rather than a dramatic fall off a cliff edge to pre-conflict levels, particularly ahead of the traditional peak season build-up later in the summer,” he added.

Propelled by an 18% jump in box traffic in March, the port of Los Angeles enjoyed a strong April – and part of its gain may be US east coast ports’ loss. “April came in strong, our best month of 2026 and the highest since last August. We handled 891,000 container units. That is up more than 5.5% from a year ago and 18% over the previous month,” reported CEO Gene Seroka. The growth was driven by loaded imports, which soared 21% over the March tally, to 459,825 teu, up 1.5% year on year. Empty boxes increased 10%, to 303,310 teu, while loaded exports dipped 0.5%, to 127,726 teu. Mr Seroka noted that year-on-year growth was from an elevated base, as the port’s imports in April 2025 had been boosted by front-loading. He pointed to the retail sector as the primary engine of growth this year. “What’s driving this? Generally speaking, the American consumer, still resilient, still spending,” he said. “With US manufacturing holding steady, we’re also seeing a consistent flow of parts and components.” The port’s tally for the first four months of the year added up to 3,279,704 teu, 2% ahead of its five-year average for that period. The picture is markedly darker on the US east coast. According to Descartes, the port of New York & New Jersey suffered an 18.4% slump in box traffic from March to April, while Norfolk (down 18.2%), Charleston (-16%) and Savannah (-11.9%) also recorded double-digit drops. Container volumes at the top ten US ports were down 1.4% from March, Descartes noted in its latest Global Shipping Report. It pointed out that west coast ports’ market share accounted for 44.6% of total imports, up from 38.3% in March, whereas east and Gulf coast ports’ share sank to 39.2%, from 44.3% in March. “These significant swings likely reflect rebalancing of import routing rather than a sudden change of underlying demand,” Descartes commented. It noted that China traffic to US east coast ports had surged in March, while west coast ports had registered decline in that tradelane. Judah Levine, head of research at Freightos, reckons the shift was produced by a combination of factors. The conflict in the Middle East could have prompted shippers to opt for the faster Asia-US route, in anticipation that oil/bunker prices were going to go higher or become disruptive via fuel shortages as the war stretched on, or because of higher fuel surcharges on routes to US east coast than west coast routes, he suggested. “Also, Chinese New Year was later than usual this year, so it could be that April was boosted by post-holiday backlog goods, some of which also went by the quicker route and arrived in April instead of March, because of the later holiday start,” he noted. Moreover, some cargo owners have shifted from direct airfreight, Asia-Europe, to a sea-air routing via the US west coast. Comparisons may be skewed by the fact that this year volumes reaching US east coast gateways in March were unusually elevated because bad weather in February pushed some of that month’s volume into March, Mr Levine pointed out. Looking ahead, the latest Global Port Tracker report from the US National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates predicts year-on-year increases for May and June – but “only because of the sharp fall-off in imports after ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs were announced in April 2025”. “With inflation rising and consumer confidence falling amid global economic uncertainty driven by the conflict in Iran, an overall trend of lower imports is expected to continue after that,” commented NRF VP for supply chain and customs policy Jonathan Gold. “Containerised imports in the first quarter were down year on year, and forward demand is weakening,” added Hackett Associates founder Ben Hackett. “Stalling re-stocking efforts and rising geopolitical tensions are increasingly clouding the outlook.” Mr Seroka noted the impact of fuel prices as a question mark looming over the coming months. Overall, he expressed cautious optimism. “I have not got any data suggesting we’re going to hit a rough spot,” he said. Despite headwinds, US GDP expanded 2% in the first quarter, he said. “Inflation, although high, is still not runaway. Consumers are still spending at near-record pace, and importers keep active,” he said. “The next import wave will be back-to-school products, followed by early holiday inventory.”

North American west coast container flows are showing signs of a structural shift – with Canadian ports gaining market share at the expense of their US rivals, according to Sea-Intelligence. Looking at Q1 26 throughput at the major west coast gateways, the analyst noted “a significant cargo migration northward”, with Prince Rupert and Vancouver the principal beneficiaries. While overall NAWC laden import volumes fell 3.9% year on year in Q1, the contraction was almost entirely seen at US ports, with every major gateway reporting volume declines. The Northwest Seaport Alliance grouping suffered the sharpest drop, of 18%, followed by Oakland (-6.8%), Long Beach )-5.6%), and Los Angeles (-3.6%). Sea-Intelligence said the figures pointed to “a deliberate” rerouting by shippers and carriers northward, driven partly by the US-China trade war and concerns over US west coast congestion and labour disruption. Indeed, Vancouver recorded a 9% Q1 rise in laden imports, to more than 491,000 teu, while Prince Rupert posted 7.8% growth. The analysis also underscored a broader weakness in transpacific import demand, volumes slipping from around 3.63m teu in Q1 25 to 3.49m teu. “The flatlining of NAWC laden import volumes over the past three quarters is quite obviously a consequence of the US trade war,” said Sea-Intelligence, noting that Canadian ports were also benefiting from shippers’ “proactive risk-aversion strategies”. However, growth in North America’s laden exports was positive across every major west coast port in Q1, volumes rising 2.4% year on year, to approximately 1.27m teu. But while Prince Rupert recorded the strongest increase, surging 17%, Long Beach and Los Angeles posted gains of just 3% and 2.2%, respectively. Sea-Intelligence said the export performance provided “a critical macroeconomic counterweight to the cooling import environment”, suggesting North American agricultural and industrial producers were “finding renewed traction in overseas markets”. Meanwhile, Southern California’s persistent empty-container imbalance continues to weigh on operational efficiency, noted Sea-Intelligence. Los Angeles and Long Beach together handled around 1.68m empty export teu in Q1, compared with just 654,000 laden export boxes. “This staggering 2.58:1 ratio of empty to loaded exports demonstrates that the economics of transpacific shipping remains heavily skewed,” the analyst said. And carriers continue to prioritise the rapid repositioning of empty containers back to Asian manufacturing centres rather than waiting to load lower-margin US exports, particularly agricultural cargo. Long Beach exported nearly 890,000 empty containers against only 301,000 laden exports, while Los Angeles shipped almost 800,000 empties compared with 353,000 loaded boxes. Sea-Intelligence argued the imbalance underscored a growing conflict between carrier priorities and terminal efficiency. “Carriers prioritise rapid equipment turnaround, often finding it more profitable to rush empty boxes back to high-yield Asian origins than to wait for low-margin North American exports,” it said. “Conversely, ports seek to maximise revenue per crane move and yard slot.” Despite the imbalance, there were signs of marginal improvement in terminal density, as the repositioning of empties slowed slightly faster than the decline in laden volumes. Coast-wide terminal density increased, from 64.5% to 66.1%, year on year.

Container spot freight rates across the transpacific and Asia-Europe trades saw marginal gains this week, as carriers managed to halt three consecutive weeks of price declines into Europe. According to this week’s World Container Index (WCI) from Drewry, spot rates on the Shanghai-Rotterdam route increased 2%, to $2,170 per 40ft, while the Shanghai-Genoa leg edged up 1%, to $3,075 per 40ft; carriers gaining some momentum before attempting to implement new FAK rate levels next week (15 May), ranging from $3,500-$4,500 per 40ft to North Europe, and $4,500-$4,600 to the Mediterranean. However, both customers and analysts remain sceptical that these will fully stick, despite recent capacity cuts by carriers. “Asia-Europe rates from April to the first half of May have been flat,” one Asia-Europe forwarder toldThe Loadstar. “We’re seeing early indications of an increase for the second half of May of around $200 per teu, which I think has come from the heavy blanking, and it has impacted our allocations and even seen some rollovers,” he added. According to Drewry’s analysis of blanked sailings and capacity reductions, “effective capacity is expected to decline 3% month on month on Asia-North Europe, and 10% month on month on Asia-Mediterranean in May”, it said. However, analysts at Linerlytica predicted the carriers’ capacity plans would not be enough to support the new FAK levels. One noted: “Carriers will face an uphill task in securing the next three rounds of rate hikes to North Europe, with limited capacity cuts in May and higher capacity expected in June.” There were stronger pricing gains on the transpacific trades, after the implementation of emergency fuel and peak season surcharges by carriers at the beginning of the month. The WCI’s Shanghai-Los Angeles route increased 5% week on week, to end at $3,062 per 40ft, while the Shanghai-New York leg was up 7%, to finish at $3,721 per 40ft. And forwarders on the trade said spot rates were relatively stable, with some discounts of $2,500 per 40ft to the west coast and $3,550 to the east coast available. However, west coast forwarder Freight Right warned that space was becoming increasingly tight, as carriers cut capacity to force prices up, leading to increasing supply chain disruption. “While [transpacific] space is technically available to book, the reduction in vessel capacity means a high percentage of shipments are being rolled to subsequent weeks,” the firm said. This has also recently led to carriers departing China with overloaded vessels, it added, with excess volumes unloaded in the South Korean transhipment hub of Busan. “To compensate for fewer ships, carriers are overloading active vessels, sometimes forcing unplanned discharges at intermediate ports like Busan to lighten the load for the transpacific crossing,” it added, and warned that blanked sailings for the remainder of this month were likely to “occur at a higher rate than in April”. This was confirmed by Linerlytica, which reported: “Multiple blank sailings are planned in early May, with the biggest changes involving the Premier Alliance’s reconfiguration of its transpacific services.”

Container spot freight rates on the transpacific trade into the North America west coast managed to defy gravity and edge up this week, while most other east-west trades witnessed a third consecutive week of declines. This week’s World Container Index (WCI) from Drewry showed its Shanghai-Los Angeles leg increasing 2% on the previous week, to end at $2,930 per 40ft, and meant it was now up 34% on the spot rate immediately prior to the outbreak of the Iran conflict. Other indices show similar movements – The Freightos Terminal showed a Far East-US west coast rate reading of $2,675 per 40ft, with head analyst Judah Levine noting it was 45% up on the pre-war rate. One forwarder, at the end of the TPM event in Long Beach at the end of March, which took place as the US and Israel launched their bombing campaign on Iran, toldThe Loadstarthe quoted rate per 40ft for his 2026 annual contracts leaped by $1,000 overnight as a result of the conflict. While he was derisive of that offer, it now appears carriers have largely managed to achieve that goal through a mixture of pricing discipline and capacity management, Xeneta head analysts Peter Sand tellsThe Loadstarin next Monday’s podcast. Xeneta data shows Far East-US west coast and east coast rates up by an average 50% since the war started. “Part of it is arguably due to the smart capacity management post-Chinese New Year, explained Mr Sand. “But 50% up is also testament to the fact that carriers have successfully been pushing up rates amid all the uncertainty that shippers also had to handle,” he said, but added that there were some early signs of shippers replenishing inventory. “It’s also shippers perhaps fearing that as we face the traditional peak season in the third quarter, there could massive congestion in the main hubs in South-east Asia. “So a lot of shippers have decided ‘let’s move my goods forward’ – Adidas, for instance, is front-loading its cargo ahead of the World Cup [in the Americas],” he said, adding that this was a ‘better safe than sorry’ approach – ‘bring my goods in so I won’t run short at a later stage with some unforeseen headwind’. However, the WCI’s Shanghai-New York leg lost 2% week on week, to end this week at $3,483 per 40ft, indicating that transpacific pricing trends are by no means uniform. However, with CMA CGM implementing a $2,000 per 40ft peak season surcharge on all shipments from Asia to the US, there is the prospect of further increases next week. On the Asia-Europe trades, the WCI’s Shanghai-Rotterdam and Shanghai-Genoa legs both declined 1% from the previous week, to end at $2,127 and $3,039 per 40ft, respectively. Drewry said carriers had finally begun to address the overcapacity on the trades, with “seven blank sailings announced for the coming week”, with effective capacity expected to decline 3% month on month on Asia-North Europe, and 10% month on month on Asia-Mediterranean this month. “Rates into North Europe and the Mediterranean peaked three weeks ago, and capacity is also up by 6%-9%, so it’s a mixed picture right now,” Mr Sand said. While Drewry expects Asia-Europe spot rates to remain stable next week, a key date for freight buyers on the trade will be 15 May, when carriers will attempt a series of new FAK (freight all kinds) rates. However, there is quite a spread between carrier ambitions: both Hapag-Lloyd and CMA CGM are aiming for $3,500 per 40ft to North Europe and around $4,500 per 40ft to the Mediterranean; and MSC has announced $4,400 per 40ft for both North Europe and the west Mediterranean.

All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA) are pushing ahead with their integration. In North America, the pair have aligned sales and pricing to sell one network, while systems integration, the final piece of the puzzle, is expected to be completed halfway through 2027. ANA, Japan’s largest passenger airline, officially acquired 100% of the all-cargo carrier on 1 August of last year. To cargo customers in the US, the pair are now essentially one company. Pricing has been aligned and covers all destinations across their combined network, said Shawn McWhorter, president of NCA Americas. “We’ve aligned all sales activities in the US,” he said. “We’re operating virtually as one company.” NCA operates a fleet of B747 freighters, predominantly deployed on transpacific routes, and ANA runs a B777 freighter to Los Angeles and Chicago, and uses supplemental lift by US freighter operator Kalitta Air to Chicago. Its passenger flights to the US cover New York, Washington, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. ANA cargo sales personnel as well as the passenger airline’s external freight sales agents have moved under the NCA sales umbrella. Customers can use air waybills of either airline, Mr McWhorter said. To them, it is one carrier made up of several operators – the proprietary flights of ANA and NCA and contracted freighters flown by Kalitta and Atlas Air. Historically, NCA’s sales in the US have concentrated largely on traffic to Japan, but the integration with ANA’s network offers more possibilities to serve customers looking to move freight to other Asian destinations. Sales have also been aligned in Mexico, which both carriers have covered through local GSA contracts. ANA runs a passenger flight between Tokyo and Mexico City, while NCA has been working with Mexican all-cargo airline Mas de Cargo. In December, the pair announced a block space deal to give the Asian carrier space on Mas from Los Angeles to the Mexican capital and to Guadalajara. In return, Mas has space allocations on NCA flights between LA and Tokyo. Connection and capacity arrangements between the two carriers remain unchanged, according to Mr McWhorter. Down the road, he has his eyes on the market between Latin America and Asia, where he sees promising demand, but for now the integration with ANA is taking priority. With the sales integration in North America in the bag, the focus in now on ground handling, the objective to bring the two partners under one roof in locations they both serve, such as Los Angeles and New York JFK. The final step in the fusion of the two Japanese carriers will be on the systems side, where the pair are using different versions. For the time being, they pick which system to use, based on the air waybill in play. “By the middle of 2027, it will be all integrated,” Mr McWhorter said. Inside the industry’s AI shift Complete The Loadstar’s ‘State of AI in the Supply Chain’ survey — and receive the full report and data before release. Take the 2-min survey

L’Organizzazione marittima internazionale ha bloccato con effetto immediato il piano straordinario per l’evacuazione delle navi commerciali rimaste intrappolate nel Golfo Persico dall’inizio del conflitto a fine febbraio a seguito del grave attacco subito dalla portacontainer Ever Lovely (8.500 Teu, bandiera di Singapore), di proprietà del gruppo taiwanese Evergreen. L’unità è stata colpita sul lato di dritta da un proiettile non identificato mentre si trovava a 7,5 miglia nautiche a sud-est del porto omanita di Dahit, all’imboccatura dello Stretto di Hormuz. La decisione è stata ufficializzata dal segretario generale Imo Arsenio Dominguez e ripresa dalle principali agenzie internazionali tra cui Reuters e The Hindu. Il raid, intercettato dagli enti di sicurezza britannici Ukmto e Ambrey, e monitorato dalla società di gestione del rischio Vanguard Tech, ha causato danni strutturali al ponte di comando della nave, senza registrare vittime tra l’equipaggio o sversamenti in mare. Come evidenziato da Seatrade Maritime News, il vertice dell’Imo ha precisato che la Ever Lovely non stava navigando all’interno dei convogli protetti dall’Onu; nonostante questo è stato attuato il blocco del piano assistito per verificare la tenuta delle garanzie di sicurezza nell’intera area. Secondo i dati di tracciamento satellitare Ais di Pole Star Global, analizzati dall’esperto di shipping Lars Jensen, la nave ha comunque mantenuto la navigabilità e ha completato l’uscita dallo stretto diretta verso Singapore e Port Klang, navigando in coda ad altre unità della flotta Evergreen e al naviglio di Wan Hai. L’attacco è avvenuto dopo poche ore dalle dichiarazioni, rilasciate attraverso i media, del Corpo delle Guardie Rivoluzionarie Islamiche che ha definito ‘illegale’ qualsiasi transito a Hormuz che fosse sprovvisto della preventiva autorizzazione iraniana. Questo posizionamento incrina l’intesa sulla tregua di 60 giorni, recentemente siglata tra Stati Uniti e Iran, a seguito della quale erano stati istituiti due corridoi provvisori – uno settentrionale sotto controllo iraniano e uno meridionale nelle acque dell’Oman – per superare la chiusura dello schema di separazione del traffico, parzialmente minato da ordigni difensivi. L’attacco nel corridoio meridionale, per il quale il governo dell’Oman aveva appena pubblicato le linee guida operative, si configura come una violazione della Convenzione delle Nazioni Unite sul diritto del mare (Unclos), che tutela lo Stretto come via navigabile di libero transito internazionale. Come riporta Reuters, si tratta di uno scenario critico che era stato anticipato dal segretario di Stato americano Marco Rubio durante la sua recente visita istituzionale nel Golfo, che prospettava gravi ripercussioni in caso di blocco delle rotte. Da parte dei mercati e delle compagnie la risposta è stata immediata: Lars Jensen ha confermato che grandi player globali, tra cui la danese Maersk, hanno già disposto l’evacuazione delle proprie unità dall’area di crisi, come accaduto per la Maersk Baltimore da 4.500 Teu, seguite a ruota da altri operatori internazionali. Al momento l’accesso al Golfo è drasticamente contratto e rimane circoscritto quasi esclusivamente alle navi battenti bandiera iraniana. Jakob Larsen, responsabile della sicurezza dell’associazione armatoriale Bimco, ha definito l’accaduto come una pesante battuta d’arresto per la normalizzazione dei traffici regionali, nonostante la forte pressione logistica riesca a tenere attivi alcuni transiti isolati sotto la responsabilità dei singoli armatori. I dati di Axs Marine indicano infatti che, nonostante l’allarme, lo stretto ha registrato 62 transiti nella sola giornata del 24 giugno, pari a circa il 53% dei volumi standard dello scorso anno, con alcune navi che continuano ad allinearsi per il transito costiero e altre, come la petroliera Blue Star 1, che hanno invece preferito invertire la rotta a metà navigazione. Il balzo in avanti del rischio in corso ha procurato immediatamente i propri effetti sul mercato dei noli globali: dalle analisi di mercato diffuse da Lars Jensen le tariffe spot del Drewry World Container Index sulle rotte del Pacifico hanno registrato un incremento del 6% in una sola settimana, riallineandosi ai picchi registrati nell’estate del 2025 dovuti alle tensioni tariffarie internazionali. I noli di ritorno sulla tratta compresa tra Los Angeles e Shanghai, in particolare, hanno toccato i livelli più alti dall’autunno del 2023, mentre il corridoio commerciale Asia-Europa attualmente sembra parzialmente stabilizzato rispetto alle rilevazioni della settimana scorsa. A proposito di dati sulla sicurezza globale, la situazione attuale descritta da Lars Jensen, creatasi con l’incidente della Ever Lovely, che porta la crisi del Mar Rosso al suo 949° giorno e il blocco di Hormuz al giorno 118, va a gravare su un quadro già complesso per la sicurezza marittima mondiale. Dall’esame dei report annuali di settore l’analista mette in evidenza una vulnerabilità sistemica in crescita. Nel corso del 2025, secondo il bilancio del World Shipping Council, i container persi in mare sono stati 1.478 su un totale di 280 milioni di unità movimentate; un dato in aumento rispetto al biennio precedente, fortemente condizionato dal singolo sinistro della Msc Elsa al largo dell’India, costato la perdita di 640 container. Allo stesso tempo la rassegna annuale sulla sicurezza navale pubblicata da Allianz per il 2025 ha registrato su scala globale 260 collisioni, 218 incendi a bordo e 202 incagliamenti. Nonostante le 43 perdite totali di navi registrate nel 2025 confermino una tendenza alla diminuzione dei sinistri gravi nel lungo periodo rispetto alle 127 perdite del 2016, il segmento specifico delle portacontainer soffre con 5 perdite totali: il dato peggiore dal 2017. Da notare infine la fragilità digitale analizzata nell’ultimo studio di ricerca geopolitica pubblicato da Bimco. Gli esperti dell’associazione armatoriale avvertono che i conflitti tra nazioni si stanno rapidamente trasferendo sulle infrastrutture tecnologiche delle navi. Per le compagnie di navigazione, il pericolo reale è che i governi dei paesi costieri prendano di mira i computer e i sistemi di controllo dei motori di bordo per esercitare pressioni politiche. In questo modo, gli attacchi informatici di Stato diventano una nuova arma strategica, capace di bloccare i traffici commerciali senza il bisogno di un intervento militare sul campo. ISCRIVITI ALLA NEWSLETTER QUOTIDIANA GRATUITA DI SHIPPING ITALY SHIPPING ITALY E’ ANCHE SU WHATSAPP: BASTA CLICCARE QUI PER ISCRIVERSI AL CANALE ED ESSERE SEMPRE AGGIORNATI

Continuano ad aumentare le tariffe per le spedizioni via mare di container, sostenute dalla domanda in crescita sulle principali rotte di export dalla Cina, mentre permane l’incertezza sulla implementazione dell’accordo Usa-Iran e sulle sue implicazioni per lo shipping globale. In direzione del Mediterraneo, ha rilevato Drewry, i noli spot medi Shanghai – Genova per box da 40 piedi hanno guadagnato negli ultimi 7 giorni il 12%, portandosi a 5.756 dollari (cifra superiore del 41% a quella di un anno fa), mentre dal porto cinese verso Rotterdam l’aumento è stato del 15% a 4.342 dollari (il 37% in più rispetto a un anno fa). Gli analisti descrivono la situazione attuale come una “forte peak season” (valutazione condivisa da molti anche in Italia), generata dalle spedizioni anticipate in vista dei Baf (Bunker adjustment fuel) annunciati dai carrier per il prossimo 1 luglio, insieme a ulteriori Peak Season Surcharge. Sul corridoio Asia Europa saranno inoltre tagliate solo tre partenze navi per la prossima settimana. Complessivamente, Drewry ha spiegato di attendersi quindi ulteriori incrementi nei costi delle spedizioni nelle prossime settimane. Aumenti simili si sono riscontrati sul noli spot nella settimana appena trascorsa anche per le spedizioni sulla tratta transpacifica. In particolare quelli da Shanghai a New York hanno riscontrato un aumento del 15% a 6.769 dollari, mentre quelli verso Los Angeles sono balzati del +10% a 5.142 dollari. Valori che però in questo caso si discostano molto meno da quelli registrati un anno fa, risultando superiori rispettivamente solo del 3% e del 9%. Su questo corridoio, gli analisti hanno registrato per la prossima settimana l’introduzione di sei blank sailings, mentre parallelamente i carrier hanno annunciato l’applicazione di surcharge per gestire il forte afflusso di domanda atteso per via delle spedizioni anticipate da parte dei caricatori in vista dei prossimi aumenti dazi di luglio. Anche per questo corridoio Drewry stima quindi ulteriori incrementi dei noli nelle prossime settimane. Perfettamente stabili si sono rivelati invece negli ultimi sette giorni i noli transatlantici, con tariffe per spedizioni di container da 40 piedi pari a 2.507 dollari sulla tratta Rotterdam – New York e a 957 dollari su quella inversa. In media, a livello globale, per l’ultima settimana il Drewry Container Index ha rimandato un valore di 3.969 dollari, in aumento del 12% sulla precedente rilevazione e del 21% sul dato di un anno fa. Relativamente all’accordo tra Usa e Iran e ai suoi effetti, come detto al momento permane l’incertezza, nonostante il ‘sentiment’ nei mercati del trasporto via marea sia migliorato. L’allentamento delle tensioni dovrebbe stabilizzare l’andamento dei prezzi di petrolio e bunker, generando quindi in ultima battuta una minor pressione sui prezzi del carburante marino. I noli però resteranno sotto la pressione della forte domanda, così come delle implementazioni di aumenti e surcharge da parte dei carrier. ISCRIVITI ALLA NEWSLETTER QUOTIDIANA GRATUITA DI SHIPPING ITALY SHIPPING ITALY E’ ANCHE SU WHATSAPP: BASTA CLICCARE QUI PER ISCRIVERSI AL CANALE ED ESSERE SEMPRE AGGIORNATI

- Achieving Both Cost Reduction and Delivery Reliability with Lead Times Up to 40% Shorter than Conventional Services - TOKYO,June 9, 2026/PRNewswire/ -- NIPPON EXPRESS HOLDINGS, INC. launched "NX Ocean Fast Track" on June 5, 2026. The company's innovative maritime solution delivers significantly accelerated lead times compared to conventional ocean transport, while offering a superior cost-to-speed ratio over traditional air freight. Logo:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dqm0cxpYamnvMUra1AGXMuGlX932Z353/view?usp=drive_link Image:https://drive.google.com/file/d/101W2g9WAooyG9FYV30f04qpxAkuX5yRY/view?usp=drive_link The service initially covers shipments from Tokyo (Japan), Shanghai (China) and Haiphong (Vietnam) to Los Angeles (the U.S.). By collaborating with ocean carriers and destination terminals and optimizing operations at both origin and destination, NX Group provides a new transportation option that bridges the gap between air and standard ocean freight. BackgroundIn recent years, the global supply chain environment has undergone significant changes, with increasing transportation uncertainty due to factors such as port congestion and fluctuations in space supply and demand. Particularly for customers in sectors like technology, data centers, consumer goods and retail have faced a growing challenge: while they cannot bear the high cost of air freight, standard ocean transport often lacks the delivery predictability needed for production and sales planning. To address these market needs, NX Group developed "NX Ocean Fast Track," which combines speed, delivery reliability, cost competitiveness and reduced environmental impact. Service Overview"NX Ocean Fast Track" is a transportation solution that is more affordable than air freight and achieves shorter lead times than standard ocean freight by optimizing operational processes at both origin and destination. This service provides a balanced alternative for customers who want to shift urgent cargo from air to ocean freight, as well as for those concerned about delivery reliability with conventional ocean transport. Initially, the service will be offered as an end-to-end transportation service from Tokyo, Shanghai and Haiphong to Los Angeles. Service DetailsService Name: NX Ocean Fast TrackTarget Routes: From Tokyo, Shanghai and Haiphong to Los AngelesLead Times (From Cargo Receipt to Delivery)- From Japan: 16-17 days- From China: 16-17 days- From Vietnam: 21-22 daysTransport Mode: Ocean container transportation service (FCL) under NX House B/L Key Features- Up to 40% Reduction in Lead Time*While vessel transit times remain the same, NX Group has established a unique scheme that significantly shortens the lead time for cargo handling and procedures at both origin and destination. This achieves a total lead time reduction of up to approximately 40% compared to standard ocean freight. *Compared to the company's conventional services. - Reliable Delivery PerformanceIn the United States, the process from vessel arrival to container pickup typically takes several days and can be unpredictable. However, this new service enables container release within 24 hours through close coordination with terminal operators. This minimizes uncertainty caused by port congestion and ensures more stable delivery schedules. - Cost CompetitivenessThe service allows for significant cost savings compared to air freight. By maintaining speed and reliability while keeping costs low, it serves as an optimal choice between air and ocean transportation. - Environmental SustainabilityBy shifting from air freight to ocean freight, customers can significantly reduce CO2 emissions, supporting their sustainability and ESG management goals. Future OutlookNX Group is dedicated to ensuring the stable operation of this service as a new transportation standard. Moving forward, the Group plans to gradually expand the covered routes and provide higher value-added services, including door-to-door transportation and hybrid solutions combining ocean and air freight. NX Group remains committed to creating new value and meeting the sophisticated and diverse logistics needs of its customers by leveraging its global network and diverse transportation capabilities. About the NX Group:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mbvBL6C8THZNrR5LREgGeafNkEdaAmV-/view?usp=drive_link NX Group official website:https://www.nipponexpress.com/NX Group's official LinkedIn account:https://www.linkedin.com/company/nippon-express-group/ SOURCE NIPPON EXPRESS HOLDINGS, INC.

ByCraig Hooper, Senior Contributor. Audacious Ukrainian First Person View (FPV) drone attacks on Russia’sKronstadt naval baseand dark fleetcargo vesselsthis month are hammering home a lesson the U.S. Navy has been slow to accept. American naval bases and other waterfront industrial support facilities on the U.S. mainland are no longer safe havens. In particular, small, shorter-range FPV drones are making maritime-related infrastructure investments within 100 miles of the border obsolete. As America shifts to a wartime footing, all waterfront less than 100 miles from U.S. border is a no-go zone for new critical maritime infrastructure investments. On a larger scale, America’s entire approach to maritime basing and support infrastructure requires a thorough strategic rescrub, prioritizing defendability, resiliency and dispersal potential over longstanding naval habits, peacetime preferences and ease of use. This is a big lift. Shifting near-border Navy and associated maritime industrial base facilities to more defendable areas of the West and Pacific coasts will be unpopular. Take the sprawling Navy Base San Diego, located a few miles north of the Mexican border. It is a fabulous harbor, home to the largest concentration of U.S. naval power in the Pacific. Sailors love the surf and San Diego’s sunny climate. Retirement-bound Admirals are loathe to let some pesky risk assessments interrupt their enjoyable afternoon golf scrambles. A long-ingrained perception of invulnerability has made dispersal of the fleet farther north to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Humboldt or to rougher, more easily secured ports in Alaska a non-starter. The Pentagon’s war-fighting ethos demands action. The near-border Navy Base San Diego, along with the rest of San Diego’s massive maritime infrastructure, is at real risk. Rather than take action, a hopeless form of inertia has set in. Years of studies and analysis have spurred little more than admiration of the threat. The sun, surf and golf-besotted base is not growing harder, and, as of now, San Diego is unable to adequately deter modern threats with cohesive and layered drone defenses. The Navy still cannot provide specialized battle damage recovery assets there, or offer valid, well-worked contingency operation and dispersal plans from the port city. The cross-border drone threat to San Diego is real. In the last six months of 2024, the Border Patrol detected 27,000 drones operating within 1,600 feet of the southern border. Central and South American drug-smuggling cartels, harried by almost a year of lethal attacks on their maritime smuggling networks, are unlikely to sit idly by for much longer. With three nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and at least 61 more Navy ships moored barely 11 miles from the Mexican border, this “target-rich” environment is well within range of simple attack and “Kamikaze” FPV drones. Today, a drone-driven assault from the rabbit warrens of Tijuana is not just a plausible idea, but a likely hazard. Even worse, the U.S. is, as of now, involved in two wars and should be on a battle-ready footing. The far-away Iranian conflict may dominate the headlines, but the fight on drug smuggling routes to the Southern border pose a more immediate local threat. Kinetic strikes have transformed cross-border drug smuggling from a relatively chivalrous cat-and-mouse chess game into a gritty fight. The body count is stacking up, and, with at least 200 smugglers dead, the risk of a commensurate cartel-driven retaliation is cranking higher and higher. But the Navy, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Northern Command have effectively sat on their hands, unwilling to make tough long-term decisions about port security and overall risk from armed cross-border FPV drones. Barring real action from the U.S. Navy, a passive defense, driven from the highest levels of the Department of War, offers the only viable option. America’s appetite for defensive hardening (layered air defense, obscurant deployments, local water deluges, and other active anti-drone security measures) is rather limited and almost entirely absent frombase community discussions. In passive defense engineering, the first step is to simply claw for distance. That can be done by incentivizing investment in critical maritime infrastructure that is located 100 miles or more from America’s border zones. De-incentivizing has a role as well. Near-border investment in anything outside of base and facility hardening must cease. With hostilities underway, it is far too dangerous for the U.S. government to continue building, awarding big military contracts, or investing in unhardened facilities that are (or soon will be) within easy reach of armed, cross-border FPV drones. The final step is to begin moving key assets out of threatened near-border zones. Ships, commands and key production facilities need to move farther from the U.S. border, operating instead from island areas or other places with clear and defendable approaches. Ukraine is showing that FPV drones are no longer exotic, remote threats. Capable of deploying from the hard-to-monitor rabbit warrens of industrial Tijuana, a basic FPV drone traveling at the leisurely speed of 80 miles an hour gives Navy Base San Diego less than 10 minutes to detect the intrusion and respond. On the east Coast, the Port of Brownsville is just a few feet from the Mexican border and only about 8 miles from the busy industrial zones and maquiladoras of the Mexican border city of Matamoros. Both Brownsville and San Diego are well within range of the basic fiber-optic controlled drones operating in Ukraine, the Middle East and elsewhere. This is only the beginning. More sophisticated heavy-lift drones currently in service have longer ranges, are far faster and can be tougher to stop. The only way to reduce risk is to pull back from the border and incentivize maritime investment in safer, newer and more defendable facilities, 100 miles or more from at-risk border zones. U.S. Navy inertia in the face of this very real and valid FPV Done threat is inexplicable. America has known for more than a decade that naval combatants are vulnerable to FPVs. On November 16, 2013, an inert drone, a malfunctioning Northrop Grumman BQM-74 practice target, hit the cruiser USSChancellorsville(CG-62), inflicting $30 million in damages. The Navy needed at least six months to repair the ship. At the same time USSChancellorsvillewas hit, drug smugglers began ramping up drone-assisted smuggling operations. And, while the Navy has done little more than examine the problem, drone tactics are maturing at a rapid rate. Just a year ago, Ukraine, in Operation Spiderweb, used trucks to bring drones to within easy striking distance of military facilities. A similar attack from the dense border cities of Tijuana, Matamoros or some other urbanized border area would be tough for the U.S. to detect and stop. Targeting is getting frighteningly selective. Focusing in on ships in a dry dock and under maintenance is an easy way to sink a ship. TheNavy knows this. Lacking a crew and with most fire-fighting apparatus disabled, tiny fires started during maintenance effectively sunk a U.S. submarine in 2013, a big-deck amphibious vessel in 2020, and other incidents cut years off of expected total U.S. surface combatant availability. Outside of the yard, Ukraine is teaching us that even a glancing drone hit on a deckhouse or a key sensor aboard a moored, active-duty vessel will sideline it for months. The Navy’s apparent somnolence is understandable. Guns, lasers, microwaves, obscurants and other active FPV countermeasures are tough for San Diego and other urban bases to accommodate. In February, grade-school hiccups in coordinating government anti-drone laser use in far more rural areas near El Paso closed local airspace for weeks. Similar anti-drone measures in San Diego would interfere with San Diego airport operations, degrade air quality for residents near naval facilities, or put U.S. citizens at risk of exposure to high-energy emissions and spent anti-aircraft ordinance. Even worse, the issue of base hardening and strategic re-orientation of assets seems likely to fall through the emerging jurisdictional cracks in the Navy’sPortfolio Acquisition Executive-oriented reorganization. Without vigorous encouragement and an uncompromising AdmiralDavid Farragut-like“Damn local inertia, full speed ahead” attitude in advancing base hardening and contingency planning, few retirement-bound admirals will risk spending their final years in service urging sailors and citizens in Barrio Logan, Coronado, downtown San Diego and beyond to tolerate active drone countermeasures. With no incentive to harden near-border bases, the Pentagon’s only real answer is to redirect money, forcing the Navy and the maritime industrial base to get distance from the immediate threat and move military assets and other critical infrastructure out of border areas. To get traction, Pentagon leadership must immediately disqualify border zones from obtaining government contracts for non-border control-relevant defenses, infrastructure and gear. Border regions will howl, but this is a matter of military necessity. By moving key assets away from the border, potentially threatening drones get bigger and easier to find. America, governed by a ponderous command and control structure, gains much-needed time to detect, identify and respond to potentially hostile drone intrusions. For existing sites, passive structural steps like covering ship production and vessel maintenance areas, the addition of “last-meter” water deluges, nets and barrage ballon-anchored structures can help. Build-out of level-loading structures (essentially massive reinforced parking pads) that allow vessels under maintenance to be pulled out of the water via a shiplift and then moved into a more defendable position in various shipyards might be useful, but all of these passive measures will be tough to incorporate at legacy near-border bases where land is at a premium. Hiding is another option. Outside of Alaska, portions of Puget Sound and the San Francisco Bay Delta, there are few places on the West Coast where ships and small craft can disperse and become harder for FPV operators to find. Time is short. Over the next five years, the U.S. must move or re-position ships and redeploy key facilities to a handful of coastal areas that offer substantial setback and standoff zones, allowing active anti-drone defenses to be deployed with less risk. In the near border areas, America must engage in the tricky business of monitoring border approaches for emergent drone threats. Intelligence experts have the tricky job of social engineering, keeping sophisticated national actors away from the borders and ensuring smugglers remain, in essence, small-scale, independent contractors, uneager to seek revenge or to fully leverage military-grade FPV drones at scale. It is time for real action. Right now, America’s border zones are battle zones, and, as Ukraine is demonstrating, anything within 100 miles of the American border is far too vulnerable in the current threat environment to sustain critical military or other important maritime infrastructure over the longer term. The border zone FPV drone threat is so high that, within the next five years, key U.S. Navy bases, U.S. Navy assets or other military contracts must be in the process of moving 100 miles away from the border to more secure regions of the United States—no matter how nice the weather, the surfing or the golf might be.