Global air cargo rates continued to strengthen in September, supported by steady demand and higher operating costs as the market moves into the traditional peak shipping season. According to reporting from Air Cargo News, the Baltic Air Freight Index recorded another week-on-week increase, with global airfreight rates more than 20% above year-ago levels. Market activity
Container freight markets are moving in different directions across the major East-West trade lanes, according to reporting from Splash247, citing data from Clarksons Research and Xeneta. Trans-Pacific trades continue to outperform, supported by resilient consumer demand and disciplined capacity management. Xeneta reported that while carriers have added capacity on the Far East-U.S. East Coast corridor,
According to Xeneta’s container shipping market update released on September 18, container spot rates from the Far East to the U.S. West Coast and U.S. East Coast have increased 324% and 325% respectively since the end of February. Xeneta Chief Analyst Peter Sand noted that rates are now just 18% and 11% below the record
Containership traffic through the Suez Canal continues to recover, with the Suez Canal Authority reporting 72.1 million net tons of container vessel transits during the first eight months of 2026. According to the authority, major carriers including CMA CGM, Maersk, MSC, Hapag-Lloyd, and COSCO have resumed some of their maritime services through the canal to
The World Shipping Council (WSC) is urging governments to review regulations that allow certain lithium battery shipments to move through supply chains without being formally identified as dangerous goods. The WSC’s proposal comes amid rapid growth in lithium battery production and transportation, coupled with ongoing concerns about cargo fires at sea. Data from the International
The Port of Los Angeles recorded its three strongest consecutive months on record, handling more than 2.9 million TEUs between June and August. Import activity has remained strong throughout the summer. Port of Los Angeles Executive Director, Gene Seroka observed “resilient consumer demand, early holiday shipments, and a broad mix of cargo” which are driving
Container freight rates on Trans-Pacific trade lanes continued to rise this week, supported by sustained demand and ongoing operational disruptions across Asia. According to reporting from American Shipper, citing Freightos data, spot rates from Asia to the U.S. West Coast and U.S. East Coast rose 2% week-over-week. Drewry’s World Container Index (WCI) released on September
Global schedule reliability suffered a significant monthly decline in July as congestion intensified across major Asian container hubs. According to data from Sea-Intelligence, schedule reliability fell to 56.4%, down 6.1 percentage points from June, while average delays for late vessel arrivals have exceeded six days. The fallout from congestion has been severe at several of
Global air cargo demand continued to grow in July, supported by steady trade activity, expanding manufacturing output, and strong demand across key international markets. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), total air cargo demand, in terms of cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs), increased 3.9% year-over-year in July, while international cargo traffic increased by 4.7%. “The
Over 4.3 million TEU of vessel capacity are currently tied up in port congestion, representing 12.6% of the global fleet capacity, according to Linerlytica. “In terms of total TEU, the stranded capacity is higher now compared to the previous peak of 4.0m TEU reached during the COVID pandemic in 2022,” the analyst assessed. Record levels
