The multimodal network news digest - issue #28

The party is over. Following the drop in freight rates, liners are drastically losing revenues. Average long-term contracted rates dropped by 13.3%. Companies admit that now it is the era when they have to “fight for every box again to get the ships full”.  In attempts to do so,  Asia-North Europe ocean carriers, for example, are already quoting extremely low rates below $1,000 per 40ft from China to the UK. 

Companies who chose to expand their newbuild mega-box ship deliveries risk getting into their own traps if consumption fails to keep up with the capacity growth. That could potentially lead to a price war that will make it difficult to make profits from the transpacific, Asia-Europe, and other important routes. 

Perhaps, it is this dramatic situation that encourages companies to turn their focus to investments in airfreight. However, this still remains a shaky ground: while some lines do consider it an option, the market saw others suspending their operations not so long ago. Experts explain that those investments were the result of the post-pandemic euphoria when companies had such big profits that they had to invest this money at least somewhere. 

Routes & services 

• Medway has started a new service dedicated to car transportation from the German Regensburg, via Aachen to the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. BMW has quickly made use of it. 
• Rail Route Connectis the new initiative to revolutionize the french railway has united seven companies and Fret SNCF. The objective is to further implement combined transport and increase the modal share of rail in France. Logistics companies will be allowed to use rail even if their volumes are not enough to fill the train. The goods from different customers will be mixed in one wagon. 
• Thailand is considering the possibility of joining the China-Laos-Thailand Railway by 2026. The country has already announced that it will increase the number of freight trains with Laos. 
• ZIM will restructure its ZXB service. From late February the new rotation will be: Jakarta – Laem Chabang – Cai Mep – Haiphong – Yantian – Kaohsiung – Panama Canal – Kingston – Baltimore – Norfolk – New York – Boston – Suez Canal – Jakarta.
• King Abdulaziz Port has been added to MSC's new freight service. The port will offer weekly sailings to eight destinations in the Arabian Gulf, South Asia, and Southern Africa, including ports such as Qasim in Pakistan, Port Louis in Mauritius, and Durban in South Africa.
• A new South America West Coast-US East Coast route by ZIM: San Antonio (Chile), Callao (Peru), Guayaquil (Ecuador) – Cartagena (Colombia) – Kingston (Jamaica) – Philadelphia – Miami, Kingston (Jamaica)- Buenaventura (Colombia – Guayaquil (Ecuador) – Callao (Peru) – San Antonio (Chile).
• Pacific International Lines has introduced a new weekly direct service: Bangkok – Laem Chabang – Manila – Singapore – Bangkok. 
• MSC will start a new weekly feeder service from February 28: Antwerp – Dublin – Cork – Le Havre – Antwerp.
• CMA CGM has launched a new intermodal solution for cargo bound for Cabinda (Angola) via Pointe Noire in Congo with just one day of transit time. 
• ZIM aims to connect ports in Southeast Asia and Australia. The rotation will be: Ho Chi Minh – Laem Chabang – Port Klang – Sydney – Melbourne – Fremantle – Port Klang – Ho Chi Minh. Customers will also get the opportunity for a fast connection to New Zealand via ZIM’s N2A service when they reach Sydney.
• Maersk has launched a new Southeast Asia to Australia network connecting the five main ports of Adelaide, Brisbane, Fremantle, Melbourne, and Sydney in Australia to the world via the Ports of Singapore and Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia.
• CMA CGM Group will offer new rail services connecting the ports of Alexandria and Ain Sokhna to the October Dry Port. 
• MSC has introduced a new connection between Turkey and West Africa. From February 21 the rotation will be: Tekirdag – Derince – Iskenderun – Gioia Tauro – Leghorn – Genoa – Fos-sur-Mer – Valencia – Las Palmas – Dakar – Abidjan – Tema – Lomé – Tincan/Lagos – Lomé – Abidjan – Las Palmas – Gioia Tauro – Tekirdag.

Other 

• 2023 promises to be a year of growth for India. It is already on the way to becoming the destination for a greater volume of large boxships. Exports are accelerating. In 2022 the country made $422bn in exports surpassing the initial target of $400bn. 
• London Gateway will invest heavily in new rail infrastructure at the port terminal with a focus on the commissioning of two rail-mounted gantry cranes to better serve container shops and intermodal rail traffic.
• Following the strikes in the UK, no passenger services across most of the country were expected at least for the first week of February. However, freight services remain unaffected for now. 
• DP World will develop, operate, and maintain the mega-container terminal at India’s Deendayal port in Gujarat.

These are only several changes that occurred in more than 250 bn freight rates across 25 million routes with more than 1 million market players. Want to share some news about your company, services, and routes? Just post them on MAXMODAL, a multimodal network that digitally connects routes and rates worldwide to automate sales and operations across container transportation & logistics industry. Join to innovate.