Israeli line Zim is the latest to press for a second round of rate increases in the Asia-Europe trades.
Israeli line Zim is the latest to press for a second round of rate increases in the Asia-Europe trades.
The financially-struggling carrier has advised customers that it will be seeking to lift rates for cargo moving from Asia and the Indian sub-continent to Europe by $200 per teu on September 1.
The increase will affect destinations in northern Europe, east and west Mediterranean, the Adriatic and Black sea.
This follows an upwards adjustment of between $250 and $300 on July 1, an emergency bunker surcharge of $140 per teu on August 1, and a peak season levy of $175 that is due to last from the beginning of August to the end of October.
Lines say the general rate increases that most announced earlier this summer are holding better than expected, underpinned by huge lay-up programmes.
Zim has the added pressure of a severe cash shortage that has forced its parent company to provide an emergency loan while seeking shareholder support for a much bigger rescue package.
Meanwhile, Société Générale concludes that more stable conditions in the container trades will not be sufficient to prevent the AP Moller-Maersk group from reporting a 2009 deficit as Maersk Line continues to rack up huge losses.
?While there are signs that dawn is breaking for the global economy, it is not clear that this will be rapid enough to save AP Moller-Maersk from falling into the red this year,? the SG Transportation research note states.
?On the supply side, the container shipping market is still being flooded by ships ordered in happier times; on the demand side, global recovery for now seems to mean nothing more than an easing in the contraction.?
The Danish conglomerate acknowledged when publishing its first quarter results that ?it cannot be ruled out that the total result for 2009 could be negative?. Investors ?will look beyond the half year results to see whether the company has now decided to harden this guidance,? says SG Transportation.
Meanwhile, Clarkson Research reports that the vast orderbook is being contained a little by later than scheduled newbuilding deliveries.
One analysis, comparing the orderbook and completion profile in January with what has actually been delivered so far, indicates a slippage rate of almost 40%.
Alternative methodologies suggest a smaller slippage rate, and whatever the true figure, there has been little impact on the market so far, with the supply and demand imbalance still ?impossibly wide?.
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