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China's Newnew Shipping to launch services to Murmansk and invest in the port

Yangpu Newnew Shipping, which specialises in China-Russia liner services, is now eyeing regular services to Murmansk via the Northern Sea Route. CEO Ke Jin said yesterday that Newnew's 1,220 teu Xin Xin Hai 1 had become the first containership to call at Murmansk, primarily a dry bulk and general cargo port. Mr Ke said Newnew would, from October, send six larger vessels to Murmansk, the only ice-free port in western Russia, and planned to invest in the port's infrastructure. He added: "We're confident we will see significant development in the Murmansk region. Murmansk is conducive for investment, because of the authorities' support and the fact that it's the only ice-free port in western Russia. "More and more Chinese companies are joining the Arctic route, which I think has become safer, gradually." Besides Murmansk, Newnew is also keen to invest in the Russian ports of Arkhangelsk and Ust-luga, which are also along the NSR, of which the carrier has been the most frequent user, according to the Centre For High North Logistics. Xin Xin Hai 1 carried about 500 containers, mainly automotive parts from Tianjin on 19 July, boxes that are expected to be transhipped to St Petersburg or Kaliningrad. China is the first-mover on NSR voyages, hoping to exploit the route, which it calls the Far Eastern Ice Silk Road, as a short cut from Asia to Europe. Last year, the governments of China and Russia agreed to expand transport through the NSR, aiming to increase cargo volumes in this direction to 20m tonnes by 2030. Meanwhile, Sea Legend Shipping is also offering liner services through the NSR, with eight China-Europe sailings during the current navigational season.

Maersk switches pricing strategy - now quicker to pass on rate hikes

Maersk has changed the way it prices container freight, tracking market movements more closely than it did during the pandemic, according to Sea-Intelligence. Its analysis compares Maersk's average quarterly freight rates with the Container Trade Statistics (CTS) global average, using Q4 23 as a baseline. During the pandemic-era freight rate surge, Maersk was the clear outlier among carriers, Sea-Intelligence found, noting that the Danish shipping line was more cautious about passing rising market rates on to customers, apparently in the hope that doing so would result in a more gradual decline when the market turned. However, rates subsequently fell just as quickly for Maersk as they did for the wider market, said Sea-Intelligence, adding: "In other words, the data showed Maersk gave away some revenue upside when rates went up, but got nothing in return when rates went down." Sea-Intelligence estimated that, compared with a hypothetical scenario in which its pricing followed the market the strategy cost Maersk about $15.8bn in revenue. But the consultancy says Maersk's behaviour changed during what it called the "Red Sea cycle". With Q4 23 again the index baseline, Maersk's rates have closely tracked the CTS average as the market responded to the Red Sea disruption. "Figure A4 (below) shows the deviation in Maersk's rate from the CTS average. As can be seen, the deviation is so tiny, as to more likely constitute minor fluctuations with no discernible trend." Sea-Intelligence concluded: "What the data shows very clearly is that Maersk has changed its approach to pricing, compared to what it was doing during the pandemic." "They now very closely follow average market developments and hence avoid the loss in revenue opportunity when the rates suddenly surge."

Singapore hits back at US claims of 'shadow transhipment'

Following US allegations that Singapore is part of a "shadow transhipment network" used by Chinese exporters to circumvent tariffs, its prime minister, Lawrence Wong (pictured), said it would be "unrealistic" to expect the city-state to determine the movement and origin of every consignment passing through its port. . At the National Day rally, Mr Wong hit back at the White House report naming Singapore among more than 40 countries allegedly involved in the "shadow" transhipment networks that enable Chinese exporters to disguise the origin of goods and evade US trade measures. As the world's largest transhipment hub, last year Singapore processed 44.66m teu of containers, of which 85% to 90% were transhipments and Mr Wong said Singapore enforced the rules and laws governing international trade. He said: "There are established rules of origin for international trade. You cannot just route goods through another country to disguise where they actually come from." However, the scale and complexity of global supply chains made it impossible to trace and verify the provenance of every product moving through the port, he added. "We're a major centre for re-exports and transhipment. Goods pass through Singapore from all over the world. We cannot possibly trace and verify the entire supply chain behind every product that passes through our shores." He added that Singapore would investigate and take action where there was evidence of wrongdoing, but cautioned that there were limits to what the country could achieve independently. "We must also be realistic about what Singapore can do on our own." The Trump administration has also turned its attention to forced labour in supply chains. Following the US Supreme Court's February ruling that the so-called Liberation Day tariffs were unlawful, the White House re-imposed tariffs on the grounds of alleged failures to prevent imports of goods produced using forced labour. A US review of 60 trading partners found 54 economies had failed to impose, and effectively enforce, prohibitions on imports linked to forced labour, and last month, Washington announced a 12.5% tariff on a range of Singaporean goods, citing the state's failure to prohibit imports produced with forced labour. Mr Wong said: "We all agree there should be no place for forced labour. This is a global problem. The better way to tackle it is through international cooperation and common standards - not tariffs. "But the US now expects countries to have domestic measures to stop imported goods made with forced labour. We will continue engaging the US and explaining our position."