Latest news with #Freightos
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
China trade outlook improves, container rates — not so much
As the July 9 deadline for the end of the China-U.S. tariff pause speeds closer, the outlook for the trans-Pacific ocean trade is less than clear. Although tariffs and other details are not known, President Donald Trump said that the U.S. has signed an agreement with China that will see a resumption of the latter's trade in rare earth minerals in exchange for the U.S. ending some countermeasures. The administration said it plans to finalize negotiations with its top 10 trade partners after July 4 and may unilaterally impose tariffs on other nations soon. A tariff reduction on Chinese goods by the U.S. on May 12 led to a rebound in China-US container volumes, but this seems to be losing momentum, SONAR data partner and shipping analyst Freightos said in an update. Carriers, possibly anticipating a more prolonged demand surge, have increased capacity on the trans-Pacific, particularly to the U.S. West Coast, which now appears out of balance with demand. While SONAR data shows loaded containers departing China for West Coast ports approaching record levels, freight rates have suffered a precipitous drop amid weeks of weakening demand. Freightos said that between late May and mid-June, rates for Asia to North America West Coast containers surged by over $3,000 per forty foot equivalent unit (FEU), or 115%, to $6,000. However, by the end of last week, a combination of demand and capacity issues caused a sharp decline in the average rate to $3,388 per FEU, which is 43% below June's peak, though still 22% higher than late May. East Coast rates saw a similar, though less dramatic, trend. They surged 80% from late May to mid-June, reaching approximately $7,200 per FEU but fell 15% to $6,116 by the end of the month. This significant drop in rates, occurring early in the typical peak season, has led carriers to consider reducing capacity. Freightos Head of Research Judah Levine in a note said that even with these tariff-driven pressures that pushed rates up sharply in June, the peaks for both lanes were at least $1,000 per FEU lower than a year ago, and may indicate overall capacity growth in the container market. Asia-Europe and Mediterranean rates both concluded June with a 25% month-on-month increase, reaching $2,969 and $4,222 respectively. Red Sea diversions initiated an earlier peak season on this lane, with port congestion and capacity shifts to the trans-Pacific contributing to rate increases in early and mid-June. However, rates on both lanes cooled by month-end, suggesting market conditions may not support upcoming July general rate increases (GRIs) by carriers. Despite this, liner plans for significant capacity reductions — unusual for peak season — could still facilitate additional rate hikes. Similar to the trans-Pacific, current rates on these lanes are substantially lower than a year ago, indicating that increased capacity is exerting downward pressure on rates, even as carriers continue to avoid the Red Sea. But other market sources say container rates out of China are even lower. 'Spot rates dropped to somewhere between $2,000 to $2,500 (depending upon carrier) and have hovered around $2,500 for two weeks now,' said consultant Jon Monroe in a LinkedIn post. 'Rates have fallen fast, space out of China's base ports is wide open, and so far, carriers haven't flexed their capacity control muscle to put the squeeze on the market.' Monroe added that carriers that recently jumped into the trans-Pacific are offering rates at or just below $2,000 to the West Coast. 'The gap between East Coast and West Coast rates has settled back to normal, at about $1,000,' Monroe said. 'Right now, everyone's just sitting tight, waiting to see what Trump decides to do with tariffs.' Find more articles by Stuart Chirls 44% fewer cancelled sailings could be [blanking] bad news for SoCal trucking US maritime chief 'not a big fan' of ocean carriers' 'approach' as agency reviews antitrust immunity Drewry: No 'lasting impact' from tariff break as ocean rates fall again With Mideast shipping on high alert, Maersk re-opens Israel port The post China trade outlook improves, container rates — not so much appeared first on FreightWaves. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Boston Globe
21-06-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
This is ground zero in Trump's trade war
The Port of Los Angeles, along with a nearby facility in Long Beach, makes up a shipping complex that stretches across nearly 75 miles of Southern California shoreline. The ports are a bellwether for trade and the U.S. economy. Together, they move an astonishing 40% of the goods that come into the United States via containers. They also account for 30% of what the country exports. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up As Trump's chaotic and aggressive tariff strategy has seesawed this year, activity here has, too. That has threatened the livelihood of the roughly 100,000 workers at the port complex and complicated life for the hundreds of thousands of companies that bring goods through the port each year. The trends at the port hint at the pain that will ripple through the broader economy in the coming months as fewer and higher-priced goods travel from ports and warehouses to U.S. stores and consumers. Advertisement The ports experienced a surge of activity this year when shippers rushed to bring in goods before tariffs that reached their highest levels in a century. That rush has faded, and trade has become more sluggish. With higher tariffs set to snap back within weeks, importers and port workers remain cautious, unsure of what their futures will hold. Advertisement Most arrivals to the Southern California ports come from China. After Trump ratcheted up tariffs on Chinese goods to at least 145% in April, many shipments between the world's two largest economies came to a halt. From March to April, U.S. imports and the trade deficit plummeted by the biggest volume on record. In the roughly four weeks that the 145% tariffs were in effect, future bookings to send shipping containers from China to the United States plunged by half from a year earlier, according to data from Vizion and Dun & Bradstreet, which track global shipping activity. In May, Chinese exports to the United States were down roughly 35% from a year earlier, the biggest drop in decades apart from the pandemic. For the Port of Los Angeles in particular, May was the slowest month in more than two years. Now the port is preparing for another uptick in traffic, a delayed reaction after the president paused some levies in April so he could negotiate new trade deals. Bookings have since rebounded modestly, especially after an agreement in early May between the United States and China to reduce some of the tariffs they specifically targeted against each other. The surges and crashes are lowering the supply of certain goods. They are also pushing up the costs for companies to import goods. The cost of shipping a container to Southern California from China has doubled since the start of March, according to data from Freightos, a shipping marketplace, as importers try to find space on vessels in case tariffs increase. Advertisement For some economists, these compounding forces hold ominous implications. While inflation this year has stayed relatively steady so far, economists say the higher cost for imports could filter more noticeably into prices in stores later this year. Consumer demand could also weaken, a reaction in part to rash purchasing in the early months of 2025 before tariffs took effect. Companies and people rushed to buy machinery and cars, furniture and computers, meaning they could most likely spend less later this year. Mark Zandi, the chief economist of Moody's Analytics, said the tariffs posed a 'very significant threat to the economy' that would become visible in the next few months. 'The hit to the economy is dead ahead,' he said. 'We haven't dodged that bullet.' The ports are an illustration of the effects of globalization that Trump criticizes. As factories moved abroad over decades, particularly to China, the ports formed one end of a busy ocean superhighway. Most of that traffic flows in one direction. For every four containers that arrive stuffed with foreign cars, textiles and toys, only one is sent out filled with corn, soybeans and other U.S. exports. The other three containers often return empty -- evidence of the trade deficit that the president rails against. Trump has used tariffs to try to force Americans to buy more domestically made goods instead. The problem, critics say, is that this strategy threatens many jobs that Americans hold now, which are dependent on trade, without much indication that manufacturing could thrive again in the United States. Advertisement Only 8% of Americans work in manufacturing, down from 22% in 1980. Since Trump has returned to office and adopted protectionist policies, the number of manufacturing jobs is still roughly flat, according to the Labor Department. In fact, spending on the construction of new factories has slumped in recent months. 'Maybe it's a worthwhile goal to incentivize manufacturing jobs, but the way that we're going about it is putting a lot of other jobs at risk,' said Mario Cordero, the CEO of the Port of Long Beach. The days of U.S. manufacturing dominance, he added, are 'long gone.' Today, the ports are an economic engine in their own right, supporting the communities that blanket the rolling coastal hills leading down to San Pedro Bay. Across Southern California, port officials estimate, 1 million jobs are tied to the port, including truckers, warehouse workers, manufacturers and freight forwarders. Their jobs now hinge on the terms of trade set by the president. On the recent Thursday, the effects of the tariffs were evident in the union hiring hall across the channel from the Port of Los Angeles where dockworkers go each morning to claim new assignments. The screens displaying jobs for daily workers showed about 40% fewer positions than normal. Some truckers say tariffs have already hammered their business. Erick Gordon, the vice president of Redefined Transportation, a trucking business based in Long Beach, said he was moving roughly half the number of containers that he did last year. In response, his company had lowered its rates, pushed harder to get new business and let half its drivers go. He has had to sink money into his business just to hang on for now. Advertisement 'They're almost killing the industry,' he said. 'It's survival mode.' The last time the United States raised tariffs so high was nearly a century ago, when Congress passed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act in 1930. The move was meant to protect U.S. businesses during the Great Depression. It instead instigated a global trade war and deepened the economic crisis. Within two years, imports fell 40%. It took years for trade to recover. The Port of Los Angeles was founded two decades before, in 1907, and it blossomed because of its connection to major railroads. In the 1960s, the advent of the shipping container and the growth of factories in Asia began to transform the port. By the end of the 1980s, the Port of Los Angeles had eclipsed the ports of New York and New Jersey as the country's largest. After China's entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001, Chinese factories and the port grew in tandem. Now 45% of the port's business is connected to China, followed by Japan, Vietnam, South Korea and Taiwan. It receives some of the world's largest container ships, stretching the length of four football fields and holding tens of thousands of steel containers. Over the last decade, the ports have undergone a crash course in dealing with disruption. They say it has helped them in the current moment. Trump's trade war against China during his first term hit the ports hard. Shipments from China dropped sharply, though traffic from some other countries, like Vietnam, grew double digits. Advertisement With the onset of the pandemic, factories shuttered in China, and imports plunged again. Then the ports experienced an uptick as Americans stuck at home began mass ordering exercise equipment, office furniture, toys and video games. Jon Poelma, the managing director of APM Terminals, which is part of the Port of Los Angeles, said the pandemic had taught the port lessons about handling the shortages and surges it was seeing now, including how to maximize space when the port is overcrowded and better share information to speed up the flow of cargo. 'We got used to it,' he said. 'We tested our ability to handle pain.' Last month, dozens of semi trucks and self-driving straddle carriers were buzzing around the terminal, stacking pink, white, blue and gray containers. Hulking blue container ships stained with rust rose up behind the stacks. The part of the port that Poelma runs -- the biggest container terminal in the Western Hemisphere -- was emptier than in previous weeks. But it was still performing well compared with last year, in part because of its partnership with a major shipping alliance used by big retailers that have continued to bring in shipments when smaller companies have not. Poelma admitted that most importers were having trouble trying to figure out how to forecast demand. And he did not see those challenges abating anytime soon. 'The one thing that is certain is that it continues to be very uncertain,' he said. This article originally appeared in
Wall Street Journal
17-06-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
The Surge in Ocean Shipping Rates Is Peaking
American importers are getting a rare piece of good news amid worries about tariffs and consumer spending as ocean shipping costs start to sink. The average spot rate to ship a 40-foot container from Asia to the U.S. West Coast slipped at the start of this week to $5,840, down from an average of about $6,000 the prior week, according to online booking platform Freightos. A measure of global ocean shipping rates, the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index, on Friday fell 6.8% from a week earlier, dragged down by an almost 27% decline in rates from Shanghai to the U.S. West Coast, according to HSBC Global Research.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Early peak coming as trans-Pacific container rates double
The past week has seen significant changes in trans-Pacific container rates, marking a significant shift on the shipping horizon as the peak season approaches. Container rates from Asia to the U.S. West Coast surged in the latest data from SONAR and Freightos, as shippers pushed the peak season early to frontload goods ahead of potential tariff pauses in July and August, while ocean lines implemented general rate increases (GRIs) as of June 1. The SONAR Container Atlas spot rate for loaded boxes departing Yantian, China for Los Angeles was $6,645 per forty foot equivalent unit (FEU) as of June 10, up from $6,100 on June 6. The rate from Ningbo, China increased to $6,439 from $5,797. The Freightos Baltic Index for the week ending June 6 including GRIs saw rates double to $5,488 per FEU, with daily rates surpassing $6,000. Prices to the U.S. East Coast experienced a 60% increase, reaching $6,410 per FEU. Current rates exceed $7,000 per FEU, aligning with figures from the previous year when capacity constraints, driven by Red Sea dynamics and an early peak season, compounded by the strike threat by the International Longshoremen's Association, pushed prices are preparing for further trans-Pacific GRIs, ranging between $1,000 and $3,000 per FEU, scheduled for mid-June and July 1. This is in response to China's ports grappling with backlogs from an earlier lull in demand, alongside the realignment of vessels and equipment to other lanes during the tariff quiet period. Freightos research chief Judah Levine in a note said that as peak volumes converge with still-limited capacity and ongoing port congestion at several Far East hubs, the likelihood of these rate increases taking hold in June and July is significant. There is an expectation for rate relief by mid-July as demand eases, congestion dissipates, and more capacity is restored to trans-Pacific routes. The U.S. ports are proactively preparing for the incoming surge of containers, incorporating lessons learned from the pandemic to mitigate potential congestion. The National Retail Federation had anticipated a decline in U.S. ocean import volumes in May, rebounding in June and peaking in July, as high tariffs had previously suppressed demand. They revised this outlook, noting current rate behavior and GRI announcements. These projections suggest July's peak season volumes will be 9% lower than last year's August peak and 4% less than April's levels, reflecting the impact of both strong April frontloading and a shipping pause 'air pocket' because of high China tariffs. Even with significant inventory build-up earlier in the year, this year's tariff-driven peak season may not witness the anticipated negotiations continue as the White House works towards securing trade agreements with China, the European Union, and other major trade partners ahead of the July and August deadlines. Any successful trade agreements may lead to a de-escalation of tariffs, but the forward pull of this year's shipping volumes suggests demand and rates may decline in the late third quarter and into the fourth quarter, regardless. This burgeoning demand for trans-Pacific containers has ripple effects on other trade routes. Freightos Asia-Mediterranean rates recently climbed by 32% to $4,285 per FEU, with daily rates now surpassing $4,800 per FEU as carriers plan mid-month GRIs and peak season surcharges for Asia-Europe and other lanes due to capacity shifts to the trans-Pacific route. Find more articles by Stuart Chirls see cargo surge coming WATCH: Four crew missing after container ship explosion off coast of India Trac Intermodal preps 200K chassis for China container surgeNew world order: Ocean rates up 88% as shippers pounce on lower tariffs The post Early peak coming as trans-Pacific container rates double appeared first on FreightWaves. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Freightos CEO Zvi Schreiber to Present at the Investor Summit Virtual on June 10, 2025
BARCELONA / / June 9, 2025 / Freightos announced that Zvi Schreiber, CEO of Freightos, will be presenting at the Investor Summit Virtual taking place on June 10. About Freightos LimitedFreightos® (NASDAQ:CRGO) is the leading vendor-neutral global freight booking platform. Airlines, ocean carriers, thousands of freight forwarders, and well over ten thousand importers and exporters connect on Freightos, making world trade faster, more efficient and more resilient. The Freightos platform digitizes the trillion dollar international freight industry, supported by a suite of software solutions that span pricing, quoting, booking, shipment management, and payments for global businesses of all shapes and sizes. Products include Freightos Enterprise for multinational importers and exporters, Freightos Marketplace for small importers, WebCargo and 7LFreight by WebCargo for forwarders, WebCargo for Airlines, and Clearit, a digital customs brokerage. Freightos is also a leading provider of real-time industry data via Freightos Terminal, which includes the world's leading spot pricing indexes, Freightos Air Index (FAX) for air cargo and Freightos Baltic Index (FBX) for container shipping. Event: Q2 Investor SummitPresentation Time: June 10, 12:00 PM ETLocation: WEBCAST LINK Conference Overview and Structure The Investor Summit is an exclusive event for investors who specialize in small and microcap stocks. It is an opportunity to be introduced to and speak with management at some of the most attractive small companies, learn from various subject matter experts, and see what your peers are doing in this market. This quarter's event is focused on MicroCap companies who are undervalued, have a catalyst, and are undervalued. Registration for Investors To request free registration, please go to our website ( and click the "Registration" button. Sponsors: Access Newswire PCG Advisory QuoteMedia AGP MZ Group News Compliments of ACCESS Newswire For More Information Please visit: contact johnna-mae@ SOURCE: Freightos Limited View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire Sign in to access your portfolio
