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China Eastern selects WFS after resuming Stockholm flights

China Eastern has resumed flights to Stockholm after a six-year absence and has selected WFS to provide cargo handling services. The airline restarted flights between Shanghai Pudong and Arlanda in June, flying three times per week utilising Airbus A330 metal. In line with the resumption of flights, the company signed a three-year deal with handler WFS, which previously acted as the airline's cargo handler in Sweden. The flights operate on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays and are expected to carry around 1,000 tonnes of cargo between the cities each year. The airline stopped operating to the airport as a result of the Covid pandemic. WFS Sweden managing director Kim Elfström said: "We enjoyed a strong working relationship in Sweden before the pandemic and have maintained our close Scandinavian ties with the airline through our ongoing contract in Copenhagen. "We look forward to supporting China Eastern's return to Sweden and its future growth on this important route." WFS operates two cargo terminals at Stockholm Arlanda Airport, covering a footprint of over 18,000 sq m and including its new Good Distribution Practice (GDP)-certified pharma handling facilities and road transport services. The company now provides cargo handling and trucking services for over 20 international airlines and freight forwarding clients. In the last 12 months in Stockholm, WFS has also renewed its cargo contract with Singapore Airlines and won a new handling agreement with Norse Atlantic Airways.

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.

Typhoon-related port congestion keeps intra-Asia rates high and capacity tight

Intra-Asia freight rates rose for the fifth straight week as typhoon-related congestion in China and bottlenecks in transhipment ports Busan, Hong Kong, and Singapore tied up vessel supply. On 3 September, the Drewry Intra-Asia Container Index (IACI) climbed 9% from 27 August, to $1,312 per 40ft, as typhoon-related port disruption tightened available capacity across key Asian trades. Drewry said: "Spot freight rates from China to South-east Asia and South Asia strengthened further this week as Typhoon Saudel disrupted port operations. Shanghai and Ningbo were closed from 26-28 August, adding to congestion that has built following a series of recent typhoons, including Bavi, Noul, Dolphin, and Narra." The operational impact was reflected in vessel waiting times. In Week 35, average waiting times hit 98 hours in Shanghai and 54 hours in Ningbo. Rates on several major intra-Asia routes rose sharply. Shanghai-Busan increased 30%, to $925 per 40ft, while Shanghai-Laem Chabang climbed 28%, to $1,310 per 40ft. Ongoing geopolitical tension in the Middle East also provided upward support, with Shanghai-Jebel Ali rates increasing 6% to $8,254 per 40ft. These trends were mirrored in the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index on 4 September, with the Shanghai-South-east Asia rate up 12% from 28 August, to $893 per teu, and the Shanghai-Busan rate gaining 7%, to $248 per teu. Disrupted berthing schedules in China cascaded to the major transhipment hubs, including Busan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, causing more delays to shippers. With weather-related interruptions and port congestion persisting, Drewry expects freight rates to rise further in the coming weeks. There were also network changes among regional carriers. Japanese operator Kambara Kisen will revise its NK1 service from 22 September, replacing Otaru with Sapporo, on a revised three-week rotation with three 1,091 teu vessels calling at Dalian, Qingdao, Shanghai, Toyama, Niigata, Sapporo, Kanazawa, and Dalian. Rising bunker prices will also add upward pressure to intra-Asia freight rates. The Baltic Exchange yesterday showed very-low sulphur fuel oil prices went up around $30 from last month, to around $850 per tonne, while prices of high-sulphur fuel oil were up around $50, to roughly $660 per tonne, in Singapore and Zhoushan ports.