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News in Brief Podcast | Week 37 2026 | EU CBEC Ecommerce Forum and box shipping resilience

This week on News in Brief, we look at Hapag-Lloyd's latest proposals in its bid for ZIM, the impact of renewed tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, and the resilience of global container trade despite ongoing disruption, plus what all the external factors mean for rates. We also bring you key takeaways from the EU CBEC Ecommerce Forum in Liege with Rotate's Jonathan Mellink, including the impact of the EU's new low-value parcel customs rules, changes in ecommerce volumes and air cargo capacity, and Rotate's outlook for demand over the next 12 months.

Rates hold steady as carriers blank voyages to mitigate softer demand

Container spot freight rates on the main east-west trades continued in much the same vein as they have since the beginning of August - slight declines on Asia-Europe trades offset by slight increases on the transpacific. This week's World Container Index (WCI) by Drewry showed rates remaining elevated on the transpacific, with its Shanghai-Los Angeles leg up 2% week on week, to $7,352 per 40ft, while the Shanghai-New York route climbed just 1%, to $9,726 per 40ft. Drewry said it expected transpacific freight rates to remain stable next week, with eight blanked sailings due, compared with seven this week, expected to mitigate the easing demand. However, with China's Golden Week holiday due in less than three weeks, the "stable" rates are also expected to remain elevated, according to US west coast forwarder Freight Right. "Overall, demand remains strong and carriers have been able to maintain September pricing without significant movement. "The current market increasingly looks like an extended peak season that began earlier than usual this year and could leave ocean rates elevated through the end of September," it said. Another factor is the growing backlog of export cargo in China, a result of four separate typhoons in the space of just seven weeks - Linerlytica reported this week ships were now waiting up to 12 days for a berth in Shanghai and Ningbo, and would likely mean two things: shipping operations during Golden Week will be crucial to clearing some of this backlog; and consignees in Europe and North America can expect to see a prolonged period of "bunched" vessel arrivals through October. There could even by a sharper increase in transpacific spot rates if other carriers follow the lead of CMA CGM, which this week announced a 1 October introduction of peak season surcharges (PSSs) of $4,000 per 40ft from both the Far East and Indian subcontinent to the US west coast, and $10,000 per 40ft from the Indian subcontinent to the US east coast. On the Asia-Europe trades, prices continued their downward trajectory: the WCI's Shanghai-Rotterdam leg fell 2%, to $3,997 per 40ft, while the Shanghai-Genoa route was down 3%, to $4,216 per 40ft. According to Drewry's Container Capacity Insight, three blanked sailings are set for next week, up from one this week, but the tighter capacity is unlikely to reverse the rate trend, European forwarders told The Loadstar. "The peak is pretty much behind us," one said. "One useful indicator is when you see carriers place a time limit on the validity of their FAK pricing, as is the case now, because in my experience they don't normally increase prices before that period expires, which means that's pretty much it in terms of price rises until after Golden Week - for the Asia-Europe trades, at least," she added. However, European shippers on the transatlantic continue to face pricing pressure: the WCI's Rotterdam-New York leg was up 3% week on week, to finish at $3,126 per 40ft, and is now 100% higher than it was at the outbreak of the US-Iran conflict.

Hapag-Lloyd offers new proposals in bid to take over Zim

Hapag-Lloyd may yet land its prize purchase of Zim, the Israeli government affording the carrier an extra 30 days to revise the details of its proposed $4.2bn takeover and silence critics in Tel Aviv who remain hostile to the deal. It is understood the German carrier and Israeli financial institution FIMI Opportunity Funds have held several rounds of talks with regulators in a bid for sign-off from five of eight Israeli authorities, including shipping and defence agencies, which object to the deal. Hapag-Lloyd said: "We have listened carefully to the needs raised during our discussions with the relevant authorities. We are now developing an improved proposal designed to further strengthen Israel's maritime security and independence. "The revised proposal will secure Israel's access to key shipping routes, including routes from Asia, and strengthen the protections provided under the Golden Share framework. The agreement will also prevent foreign interference in the transport of Israel's sensitive cargo." Describing the changes as a "significant improvement over the current arrangement", Hapag-Lloyd is hoping it will have done enough to prevent Israel's government actioning the veto its "golden share" affords it on the sale of any stock exceeding 24% of the total. Should the changes placate the agencies looking to block the deal, FIMI would be responsible for the carved-out Zim Israel carrier, which would operate 16 vessels on direct links with key markets and make them available to government when required. Furthermore, FIMI has pledged that it would not list the company outside Israel, while also upping the oversight the government's golden share brings it by cutting the threshold for the sale of stock from 24% to 10%. So far, there has been no response from those looking to block the deal, and there remains a sense that the chances of Hapag-Lloyd securing the purchase remain slim. One analyst told The Loadstar they did not believe the parties "knew yet how to restructure the deal", with of the key trade unions describing Zim's potential new owner as "hostile" and "should not be allowed anywhere near" the carrier. Opposition from the unions comes despite Hapag-Lloyd's attempts to offer some sort of guarantee on job security, with revisions including creation of a regional Israeli division, staffed by several hundred people, and an Israel-based tech centre employing 300. Forwarders have shared the scepticism, venting their frustration to The Loadstar over the ongoing consolidation of the liner shipping sector, - one active on the affected trades claiming: "These deals are bad news for customers, plain and simple." Given the politicised nature of the affair, the upcoming Israeli elections are only likely to muddy the waters further, suggesting that any deal will be long in the pipeline, if ever likely to emerge.