COTD = Chart of the Day

Global goods trade is showing signs of accelerating after last year’s slump, pushing up shipping rates and giving some supply-chain managers flashbacks to the demand spike that disrupted international commerce three years ago…

Some of the catalysts for the monthlong advance in seaborne freight rates stem more from worry than optimism. They include concerns about port congestion in Asia, labor strikes in North America that threaten to hobble ports or rail services, and heightened trade tensions between the US and China…

Ocean shipping began the year already stretched by Red Sea attacks that forced carriers to send their vessels the longer way around southern Africa rather than through the Suez Canal. A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, the world’s No. 2 container line, has estimated the industry’s capacity loss at 15%-20% this quarter on routes to northern Europe from Asia…

Importers and exporters across Asia, the US and Europe typically see shipments increase from July to September as retailers look to restock before back-to-school, Halloween and year-end holiday sales seasons. That spurt of orders looks to be happening now, analysts said, at a time when spare container capacity is limited.

“This early peak season is packing a major punch,” Stephanie Loomis, head of ocean freight for the Americas at Rhenus Logistics, wrote in a LinkedIn post heading into the US Memorial Day weekend. “In speaking with many carriers this week, the comments were all the same: Vessels are all completely full.”

Spot rates for containers reflect the tightness. The cost for a 40-foot container to the US West Coast from Asia jumped 13.4% to $4,915 in the week ended Sunday, according to Freightos data, the fifth straight weekly advance. That’s triple what it was in late December, but still well below the September 2021 peak of $20,586.

The spot rate for containers to northern Europe from Asia is also climbing, fetching $4,882 last week, more than three times higher than a year ago, according to Freightos. – Bloomberg