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Liner operators are reporting full bookings for Far East-Mexico/South America slots into the new year.

Shippers are anxious to get goods from Mexico into the US ahead of president-elect Donald Trump’s impending new tariffs, and before Chinese New Year, in January.

A spokesperson for South Korea’s flagship carrier, HMM, told: "The demand for shipments from the Far East is robust, and we anticipate it to remain strong leading up to the early Chinese New Year holiday.”

Mexico is emerging as a production base due to near-shoring and, ahead of new tariffs, it is anticipated that shipping of semi-finished products will be expedited into the new year.

Korea Customs’ figures show that 263,400 teu was shipped between South Korea and Central/South America in October, up 24% from a year ago.

South Korean exports increased 35%, to 196,300 teu, and imports were up marginally, to 67,100 teu. Most of the container flows were to Mexico, which took in 89,300 teu, up 29%, with Chile, Peru and Brazil the second-, third- and fourth-largest South American trading partners.

Automobiles, electronics and chemicals are South Korea’s main exports to Mexico.

While Far East-South America freight rates have corrected after rising all year, they remain high. Last Friday, the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index showed Shanghai-Santos rates at $5,346/feu, up 2% on the previous week, but below 1 November’s $6,359/feu.

The Korea Composite Container Index showed the South Korea-Latin America East Coast rate averaged $6,021/feu on Monday, down 2% from the previous week, while the South Korea-Latin America West Coast rate averaged $3,807/feu, a 1% dip.

Xeneta chief analyst Peter Sand wrote in a recent blog post that the China-Mexico West Coast lane was “an immature trade”, as opposed to the China-US West Coast route. China-Mexico shipments peaked at 135,724 teu in June and have levelled off.

Mr Sand noted that, while volume growth into Mexico had been exponential in 2021, 2023 and 2024, real container shipments were still lower than mature markets. The volatility could be seen in China-Mexico West Coast rates peaking six times this year, compared with three times for China-USWC rates.

He wrote: “Volumes on this trade show it’s an increasingly attractive option for shippers, but this volatility means it comes with the risk of unpredictable freight spend.”

Since 2022, the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, or Middle Corridor, has gained significant traction as an alternative trade route between the European Union (EU) and China, particularly in response to shifting geopolitical dynamics. The Middle Corridor is a multimodal land and sea transport route that connects China with Europe by utilizing a combination of rail and sea transport. It stretches from China’s western border through Kazakhstan, across the Caspian Sea via Azerbaijan and Georgia, then through Türkiye, and into the EU.

Amid the ongoing crisis in the Red Sea and the Russia-Ukraine war, the Middle Corridor has emerged as a stable route for China. The Middle Corridor was officially launched in 2013 through multilateral cooperation involving Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Türkiye. Its primary aim was to enhance East-West trade connectivity and facilitate the interaction of member countries with key economic hubs such as the EU and China.

Despite the completion of critical infrastructure projects—such as the Trans-Kazakhstan railway in 2014 and the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway in 2017, which significantly strengthened the corridor’s hard infrastructure—China’s engagement with the Middle Corridor remained minimal during this period. Beijing’s perception of the Middle Corridor can be divided into two phases: the first from 2013 to 2022, and the second from 2022 to the present.

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A loophole allowing ocean carriers to dodge ETS charges via a port call in the UK could soon be closed, thanks to a government effort to expand the UK’s ETS scheme.

Parliament is mulling adding deepsea shipping to the UK emissions trading scheme (ETS) that currently includes power plants, factories and airlines, as well as domestic shipping – however the current legislation does not include international shipping calls at UK ports, thus creating a loophole that allows European importers to pay reduced ETS charges.

The UK ‘scheme’ is not to be confused with its EU counterpart, which is an emissions trading ‘system’.

“Expanding the scheme to include the maritime sector… will ensure that the price of fuels used by the sector better reflects their environmental impact,” the UK ETS Authority said late last week.

Vessels which call at EU ports from ports outside the region must pay a charge equivalent to 50% of their ETS emissions charges. But by calling at a UK port like Southampton or Felixstowe first, they can pay a fraction of these fees.

MSC has launched a Britannia service, which from February when it formally launches its standalone network includes a call at Felixstowe before proceeding to Antwerp, while its Albatross service will see calls at Felixstowe and then London Gateway before Rotterdam; and Hapag-Lloyd’s expanded China Germany Express will call at Southampton first when it introduces a new port rotation in January.

Apart from the hit to the EU’s decarbonisation goals, OceanScore MD Albrecht Grell said the UK loophole would tie-up ship capacity, inflate freight rates and could cause disruption as carriers queue up at UK ports.

“We need to consider that UK ports do not have the capacity to handle significant increases in throughput, so more port congestion, time lost, would have to be considered,” he said.

A report published in May shows that the UK government has already recognised this, acknowledging: “…Operators wishing to ship goods to and from Europe can largely avoid the EU emissions trading scheme by using UK ports to ship goods to and from EU destinations.

“Failure to align the UK ETS with the EU ETS provisions for international shipping risks the promotion of carbon leakage,” the report adds.

Mr Grell added that he did not expect the loophole to last for long at any rate, as the EU is planning to review its ETS from 2026.

With MSC to begin weekly calls at India’s new transhipment hub of Vizhinjam, feeder operators have begun talks with operator Adani to sign on for coastal connectivity operations.

MSC has published an enhanced east-west network schedule and will begin offering weekly mainline calls out of Vizhinjam, India’s high-stakes container transhipment project, from February.

Vizhinjam in southern India is under a long-term concession with Adani Group, which continues to expand its port interests.

The new network shows MSC extending its Jade and Dragon loops, covering Asia-Europe trades, to Vizhinjam, redefining its hub interests in the region.

The move follows a series of pilot calls by the carrier – a development observers believe has the potential for Vizhinjam to attract subcontinental transhipment market share from Sri Lanka’s Colombo.

Adani Ports and MSC already have terminal partnerships in India – at Mundra on the west coast and Ennore on the east – and speculation has been rife that the liner giant would extend that collaboration to Vizhinjam.

With Vizhinjam operations eyeing a 1m teu capacity in the first phase, regular mainline services would provide an opportunity for feeder lines to run services connecting other ports in the subcontinent area.

Although MSC usually uses its own feeder tonnage, Mumbai-based Sima Marine is one operator showing firm interest and is believed to be close to setting up a network at Vizhinjam, sources say.

“We have received interest calls from many coastal shipping operators,” a source at Adani Group told The Loadstar. “Coastal networks are critical to transhipment cargo flows.”

Vizhinjam has had a powerful start, handling some 100,000 teu in the first four months of trial ship runs last month, according to available data. Sensing the potential, Phase 2 development has been advanced to 2028 and will push annual capacity to some 4m teu on completion.

Maersk was the first mainline carrier to trial a call at Vizhinjam – by the 8,714 teu San Fernando on 11 July, which saw some 6,900 teu exchanged.

But despite expectations, the Danish carrier is understood to be waiting for operations at Vizhinjam to “stabilise” after the terminal officially goes live next month, before making regular calls.

“The trial run made by the San Fernando wasn’t up to the mark, as things were just beginning to take shape then,” said a Maersk source. “Operations might have improved and streamlined by now, though.”

And the source was non-committal when asked if Vizhinjam could become a port of call for services run by the upcoming Gemini Cooperation and/or its secondary networks.

Meanwhile, Adani is rapidly consolidating its Indian terminal presence with its latest concession at Kolkata Port, a five-year contract for two berths scheduled to begin next month.

Despite the recent controversy sparked by an indictment by US prosecutors, the diversified conglomerate claims it continues to enjoy strong backing from its investor and partner networks, including Abu Dhabi’s International Holding Co. Adani also claims its container terminal development at Colombo – nearing completion – continues to be supported by the port authority.

And the latest outlook report by market research firm CRISIL today adds to those positive claims. The agency said: “Adani Group has sufficient liquidity and operational cash flows to meet debt obligation and committed capex plans over the medium term.”

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