Maritime consultancy Drewry reported that carriers have added 1 million TEUs of new containership capacity to trades originating out of Asia in the first four months of 2024. However, congestion at ports in Asia and some European hubs following strong demand on the Asia-Europe and Trans-Pacific trades, and the rerouting of ships around the Cape of Good Hope have canceled out the capacity added. BIMCO calculated that 10% more capacity than normal is needed to manage global container trades due to the rerouting of ships.

On the Asia-North Europe route, 24% more ships were deployed, and 17% more total capacity was added. Yet, this only increased effective capacity by 2%, Drewry reported. On the Asia-North America East Coast route, 9% more ships were added, but effective capacity remained unchanged. The lack of space has caused spot rates to skyrocket.

A survey by Drewry showed a trend of early imports by shippers, which has brought on an early peak season in Asia-Europe and Trans-Pacific trades. Drewry has warned of a possible “volume vacuum” when this demand peak subsides.

Source: Journal of Commerce