RISING rates on intra-Asia routes to
five-year highs amid a capacity crunch born of an acute shortage of empty containers,
has commanded fresh attention in the market, say carriers and shippers alike.
The
tightness in supply has mainly been caused by the global container shortage,
carriers redeploying boxes and ships to main line services, and a regional
economic recovery, reports IHS Media.
The
rebound and resurgence of box volumes has encouraged carriers including Wan Hai Lines, Gold Star Line, Ocean Network
Express, and OOCL to launch a raft of new services, say
sources.
"Market
rates for destinations in Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia are now the highest
for five years," Danny Hoffmann, managing director of Hong
Kong headquartered Gold Star Line, a Zim unit.
"Carriers
are assigning containers and vessels to the long-haul trades as a top priority.
With the trans-Pacific, Africa and Australia markets booming from the second
half of 2020, most carriers have started to void intra-Asia sailings, pulling
vessels to put them as extra loaders on these trades. As a result, market
capacity has been squeezed."
Detailing the rate increases, Chuah Seow Yong, general manager of the liner
division at Singapore's Pacific International Lines, said market rates for a 20-foot container from
China to Vietnam and Thailand had climbed from US$100 at the beginning of
September to $450 to $500 in the second half of October.
Said
Peter Sundara, vice president of Hong Kong's LF Logistics: "Rates have
risen mainly on the back of a lack of 40-foot containers and a capacity crunch
caused by blank sailings."
Mr
Sundara said the situation has been exacerbated by main line carriers
redeploying containers and vessels to the main transpacific and Asia-Europe
trades.
"The
east-west trades are better paying in terms of yield management so mainline
carriers will naturally prioritise 40-foot boxes for these trades compared with
intra-Asia services," he said.
Hong Kong's TS Lines has joined X-Press Feeders and South Korea's KMTC to launch a China-India West Coast X-Press service
connecting China, Singapore, Malaysia, western India, and Pakistan, with six
ships of 4,200 to 5,000 TEU.
Japanese-owned
but Singapore-based ONE as well as Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) and Hong Kong's OOCL are also expanding
intra-Asia routes.
ONE
has launched seven new services this year, MSC extending its Golden Horn
service to Incheon and three ports in China, and OOCL is starting its
China-India Express 3 and the China Straits 1 and 2 (CSS1 and CSS2) services.
That
comes as Fung Business Intelligence, the research arm
of Li & Fung, sees positivity in several countries across the region including
Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Pakistan with an expected rise in foreign sourcing and
exports of goods including garments and footwear.
Source
: HKSG.
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