The ocean market continues to experience a number of challenges.

Severe congestion at major transship ports such as Singapore is putting further pressure on space and schedule integrity, with a number of carriers are now announcing that they have stopped accepting fresh bookings on services going via Singapore.

MSC came out with a public announcement pulling out their capacity on Capricorn and Kiwi Express services.

ANL have also lost 3 vessels out of their three South East Asia services.

This meant that around 5,000 TEU per week has been withdrawn from the market in recent weeks.

Demand from China remains exceptionally high for this time of the year and space is at a premium.

We have observed rates in other markets soaring to nearly USD 5,000.00 per TEU

Due to these ongoing market challenges, carriers operating in our market continue to increase rates to maintain services and keep ships running to Oceania.

The scheduled General Rate Increases announced by all carriers for the month of August are as follows:

  1st August 202415th August 2024
South East AsiaAustraliaUSD 300 per TEUUSD 300 per TEU
North East AsiaAustraliaUSD 300 per TEUUSD 300 per TEU
    
South East AsiaNew ZealandUSD 250 per TEUUSD 300 per TEU
North East AsiaNew ZealandUSD 500 per TEUUSD 300 per TEU

We also encourage our customers to place bookings at least 4 weeks in advance in order to secure space for the required sailing.  The delays in Singapore are adding at least 2 to 4 weeks to the transit times, so for critical cargo, orders should be placed taking these delays into account. 

We will continue to work with our customers closely to ensure shipments meet delivery requirements and will continue to provide advice to secure most suitable sea freight service.  For time sensitive orders, please talk to us airfreight solutions.