Blanked Sailings Set To Continue As Asia GRI Holds

More blanked sailings have been announced on the Asia/European trade recently, as carriers continue to manage capacity following a successful General Rate Increase (GRI) this month.

We have had a few aborted attempts to raise ocean freight rate levels this year, which failed due to low demand. However, after rates had been tumbling for the past twelve months, the August 1st increase managed to turn the tide for steamship lines.

The current approach is in response to what had been described as a bleak outlook for carriers, which was evidenced in many Q2 profit/loss reports. Several tradelanes, especially Asian origin, have reportedly been operating at rates that are below cost, which is unsustainable in any industry.

With the above in mind, it looks as though these strict capacity management programmes are set to stay at least until demand returns, and there are even murmurs of another potential GRI next month.

Rates have also been uplifted on the Transpacific trade, although some of this is understood to have been driven by the spike in the number of ships queuing to transit the Panama Canal.

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