Freight Market Insights

🚢 The ONE Vessel Incident: What Can the Logistics Industry Learn? The recent ONE vessel incident is another reminder of how fragile global supply chains can be — and how a single disruption at sea can ripple across ports, warehouses, and customers worldwide. Beyond the headlines, there are key lessons worth discussing: 🔹 Risk Concentration Is Real Large vessels mean efficiency, but they also mean higher impact when something goes wrong. Are we over-optimizing for scale at the expense of resilience? 🔹 Visibility Is Still a Challenge Many shippers and consignees only learn about incidents after delays are unavoidable. Real-time visibility and proactive communication remain critical gaps. 🔹 Contingency Planning Matters Do we actually have workable backup plans — alternative routings, buffer stock, or secondary carriers — or do they only exist on paper? 🔹 Shared Responsibility Across the Chain Carriers, forwarders, terminals, and shippers all play a role. Incidents highlight how interconnected decisions are, especially around stowage, planning, and scheduling. 🔹 Customer Expectation Management In an era where delays are increasingly common, transparent communication can be the difference between losing trust and strengthening partnerships. For me, incidents like this reinforce one thing, Supply chains must be built not only for efficiency, but for disruption. I’m curious to hear your perspective. #Logistics #SupplyChain #MaritimeLogistics #ContainerShipping #RiskManagement #SupplyChainResilience #FreightForwarding #GlobalTrade #Operations #DisruptionManagement #LogisticsLessons #OceanFreight #SupplyChainLeadership

Amazon opens its logistics to Walmart, Shopify and SHEIN – quietly building the backbone of global e-commerce Amazon has expanded its Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) service to support orders from Walmart, Shopify, and Shein. This marks a strategic step toward making Amazon’s logistics infrastructure available even to competing platforms. Until now, MCF supported marketplaces like Etsy, TikTok Shop, and Temu. The latest update means sellers can manage all their inventory centrally and fulfill across channels using Amazon’s network. The result: 19% fewer out-of-stock situations and 12% faster inventory turnover. From a European perspective, this signals Amazon’s ambition to become the default fulfilment layer for global commerce—regardless of where the sale happens. The update is part of a broader push: 1) Global Warehousing and Distribution will allow sellers to store goods in bulk near manufacturing hubs (China, Vietnam, India) and ship to destination markets on demand. 2) Amazon Global Logistics continues to expand with direct freight routes connecting Asia to key markets including the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. For European brands and sellers, this could reshape the fulfilment landscape: - More efficient cross-border distribution - Better stock availability for marketplaces - A stronger case for channel-agnostic inventory planning Amazon (USA) leads US e-commerce with ~38% market share. Shopify (Canada) powers over 1.7 million merchants globally. Walmart (USA) is the second-largest US marketplace. Shein (China) is one of the fastest-growing fashion platforms, with significant traction in Europe. This move is less about marketplace competition—and more about building a logistics operating system for the future of commerce. #ecommerce #retailtech #logistics #supplychain #fulfillment #fmcg #marketplaces #omnichannel #digitalcommerce #inventorymanagement #warehousing #distribution #multichannel #retailstrategy #retailinnovation #shein #shopify #walmart #amazon #d2c #crossborder #globaltrade #europeanretail #europelogistics #ukretail #germany #france #italy #spain #usamarket #asiamarkets #retailinvesting #retailmedia #startups #canada #china #usa #europe #asia #northamerica

The ocean freight market is experiencing significant volatility heading into November. Carriers are aggressively blanking sailings, creating tight capacity that's driving rates sharply upward. West Coast rates are projected to hit $3,100, East Coast $4,000, and Gulf Coast $4,200 by November 1st, with IPI points reaching $5,500+. We're already seeing cargo rolls and extended delays; bookings are being pushed back 8-10 days due to cancelled sailings. This capacity squeeze isn't happening in a vacuum. The upcoming U.S.-China trade discussions (marking the second 90-day negotiation period) are creating uncertainty in the market. Recent tariff rhetoric has triggered a rush among importers to accelerate shipments before potential policy changes. The strategic dance between rare earth minerals and semiconductor restrictions adds another layer of complexity to an already tense trade relationship. Here's what concerns me: we've seen this playbook before. In May-June, USWC rates spiked from $3,000 to $6,000 before crashing back down within 10 days once carriers added capacity. The carriers have learned they can maintain profitability through capacity management, and they're unlikely to return to the loss-making days of the past. While November typically sees softer demand post-holiday season, whether rates stabilize depends entirely on carrier willingness to add vessels. Bottom line: If you're planning upcoming shipments, book early and expect rate volatility. In uncertain markets like this, proactive communication and strategic planning aren't just nice-to-haves—they're essential to keeping supply chains moving.

Tariffs, Transitions, and Tough Decisions: Is Your Supply Chain Ready for 2025? The new year is off to a disruptive start. Political shifts are shaking up North America’s supply chains. With the U.S. eyeing a return to tariff-driven trade strategies and Canada facing uncertainty after Trudeau’s resignation, businesses must prepare for increased volatility. Here’s what’s happening: 👉 Trade Policies in Flux The USMCA could face renegotiations under a Trump administration, potentially stalling investments and impeding cross-border trade. Meanwhile, Canada’s future trade approach remains unclear, with leadership changes likely to impact key agreements and climate policies affecting logistics. 👉 Tariffs Making a Comeback Steel, aluminum, and automotive parts may see renewed duties, driving up costs. Canada could respond with retaliatory measures, adding to the uncertainty and increasing supply chain expenses. 👉 Shifting Trade Patterns Heightened political tensions might push businesses to diversify sourcing outside North America, while potential border delays could disrupt just-in-time delivery models. What Supply Chain Leaders Can Do: ✅ Diversify Your Supply Chain Shift away from single-source suppliers and explore regions like Southeast Asia or Europe to mitigate risks. ✅ Prepare for Nearshoring Consider regional hubs closer to your customers, such as Central America or alternative Canadian locations, to reduce cross-border dependency. ✅ Automate Compliance Use AI and automation tools to stay ahead of changing tariffs and customs rules, ensuring smooth operations. ✅ Build Resilience with 3PLs Collaborate with logistics providers for flexible warehousing, alternative routes, and advanced analytics to navigate uncertainties. ✅ Manage Volatility Set aside contingency funds for unexpected tariff spikes and hedge currency risks to protect profit margins. The Bottom Line: 2025 demands proactive leadership. By diversifying suppliers, leveraging technology, and staying ahead of political shifts, you can turn disruptions into opportunities. What’s your game plan? Share your strategies—or your biggest concerns—in the comments. Let’s crowdsource solutions for the challenges ahead. #SupplyChain #TradePolicy #Leadership #Logistics #Resilience

Strong bifurcation between N.America and the rest of the world in November. Global container demand grew 7.2% in November according to the new data from Container Trade Statistics. This is the highest year-on-year growth rate seen in 2025 but with N.America being the only region with negative import growth. The growth was extremely uneven across regions and trades though. From an export perspective Indian Subcontinent and Middle East exceeded any other region by a wide margin as exports grew 15.0%. At the lowest end, exports from Latin America only grew 0.6%. Seen from an import perspective Sub-Saharan Africa led the charge with a growth rate of 25.5%. At the lowest end is North America at a decline of -3.9%. This is also the only region with negative import growth, and it is the 8th consecutive month with negative year-on-year growth in container import volumes. The beginning of this trend coincides with the start of the US global trade war. If we seperate out North America, we find that import+exports combined in relation to North America declined -0.9% year-on-year in November whereas the rest of the world excluding N.America combined grew 10.1%. Looking at the major individual deep-sea trades out of the Far East we see extremely strong growth to Europe (+15.5%), Latin America (+19.7%), Indian Subcontinent & Middle East (+20,2%) and Africa (+34.2%). The Pacific trade to North America saw a decline of -4.7%. Please note that CTS demand data is measured at time of loading. This means that port statistics at destinations show this development later in time as the cargo makes its way to destination. The bookings made which caused these loadings were made earlier than the timing indicated by the CTS data. Today is day 784 of the Red Sea crisis. No new developments in relation to shipping. 

🎶 SEASONS OF FREIGHT 2025 🎶 You may have seen my post last year about the seasonality of freight and what trends newbie brokers should know about. I’ve updated my “seasonality schedule” to reflect patterns we’ve seen and how freight brokers can prepare this year. 🏮 Lunar New Year (January/February) Celebrations across Asia means factories close, creating a ripple effect in supply chains. → Plan for a slowdown in imports from countries like China, Vietnam, and Korea, then watch for a surge in shipments post-holiday. In 2023, ocean freight rates fell by nearly 20% after Lunar New Year. 🍎 Produce Season (Spring/Summer) Strawberries from California, blueberries from Florida, and peaches from Georgia—fresh produce dominates freight volumes. → Did you know reefer spot rates can climb as much as 15% higher during peak produce harvests? Time to lock in capacity early. 🏗️ Construction Season (Spring/Summer) Flatbeds are in demand! From cement mixers to steel beams, building materials hit the road as the weather warms. → Construction spending in the U.S. hit over $1.9 trillion in 2024, much of it requiring flatbed and heavy-haul capacity. 🛣️ DOT Blitz Week (June) With thousands of trucks inspected during this safety initiative, expect a dip in capacity. → Nearly 20% of trucks inspected during the 2024 blitz were placed out of service—a reminder to double down on compliance and prep drivers. 📦 Prime Day (July) Two days. Billions of orders. Brokers should gear up for surges in e-commerce freight. → Last year, U.S. shoppers spent $12.9 billion during Prime Day 👀 🌀 Hurricane Season (June to November) Brokers should prepare for disruptions and reroute shipments as necessary to avoid affected areas, while also prepping strong flatbed/open deck capacity. → Build strong relationships with flatbed carriers for emergency hauls of recovery supplies. 🌽 Harvest Season (Fall) Grains, corn, and soybeans flood the market as farmers get to work. Did you know that 25% of U.S. freight tonnage is agricultural? → Brokers in rural regions should tap into the agricultural freight boom, especially for bulk hauls. 🌟 Peak Season...in theory (October/November) Holiday shipping kicks off! E-commerce and retail freight dominate, with warehouses running at full tilt. → In 2024, peak season rates for dry vans surged by over 30% compared to Q3 averages. Plan ahead to secure capacity. 💼 Bid Season (Fall) Shippers finalize contracts for the coming year, making this a critical time for brokers to align pricing strategies. → Analyzing freight RFP trends can give you a leg up in winning long-term business. 🎁 Holiday Season (December) The final sprint! Holiday freight—think parcels, decorations, and gift bundles—keeps trucks moving nonstop. → 2024 saw a record $13 billion spent on Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined.. Brokers should prioritize expedited and last-mile deliveries. What seasons did I miss? Drop them below!

Top 5 carriers control 64.5% of global capacity. MSC 20.4%, Maersk 14.2%, CMA CGM 12.2%. Behind the numbers, trade routes are shifting, alliances are breaking apart. And still, most people think the container shipping industry is just about “moving boxes.” They're wrong. So what is happening in 2025? Some observations from my recent discussions with many Supply Chain leaders: 1) Globalization is getting decentralized. Global trade isn’t dying, it’s just splitting up. Expect more regional supply chains, micro-factories, cross-border resilience. The smartest shipping companies are adapting fast. Realigning networks. Building end-to-end control, from ship to shelf. Ports will not look the same in 10 years. 2) Fleet size is insurance against chaos. MSC is not buying 132 ships for fun or to show off. They are hedging against a future where volatility is the norm. Bigger = more flexible = more survivable. 3) Carbon is the new cost. If your ships are not preparing for zero emissions, you’re going to lose fast. Smart carriers are going green. Methanol. LNG. Hydrogen. Whatever works. Tech + sustainability = survival. 4) Old alliances are dead. Long live dynamic networks. The once-dominant 2M Alliance (Maersk + MSC) is gone. New clubs are more value-driven and agile: Gemini (Maersk + Hapag-Lloyd) Ocean Alliance (COSCO, CMA CGM, Evergreen, OOCL) Premier Alliance (ONE, HMM, Yang Ming) Expect more slot-sharing, tech partnerships, and even cross-border JVs. Shared risk. Shared capacity. Dynamic strategy. Shipping is no longer just about moving goods. It’s about moving economies. What’s your take on the new alliances and what they signal about the future? #Shipping #GlobalTrade #SupplyChain #Logistics #CarbonZero

The top 15 EU container ports are strongly recovering in the period from January to September 2024 after a challenging 2023: ✔ While 2023 was characterized by a strong to moderate traffic decline in most ports, the first nine months of 2024 brought double-digit growth in 6 of the top 15 ports. ✔ The effects of the Red Sea crisis and the associated shipping network modifications continue to be traceable in the West Med and the Atlantic coast with Sines, Barcelona, and Valencia all recording robust growth. Also Gioia Tauro records double-digit growth. Marsaxlokk advances 2.3%. The Spanish transshipment hub of Algeciras experienced only a modest increase in traffic, struggling against strong competition from the rapidly growing Tanger Med, which is twice its size and located on the opposite side of the Strait of Gibraltar. Las Palmas is approaching Marseille and could potentially break into the top 15 by the end of the year, thanks to a 10.1% growth in the first nine months of 2024. This growth builds on a container volume of 1.2 million from the previous year. Meanwhile, the Greek port of Piraeus faced significant traffic losses. The East Med became a maritime cul-de-sac due to the dramatic drop in Suez Canal transits. ✔ Among the top three ports in the EU, the Belgian port of Antwerp-Bruges shows the best performance by far with a 6.8% y-o-y growth, more than triple the growth of nearby Rotterdam. Hamburg's volume stagnated. Bremerhaven saw a very healthy traffic development. Note that the figures for the French ports relate to H1 2024. ✔ Turning to the Baltic, the port of Gdansk reached a double-digit growth despite ongoing terminal extension works at the Baltic Hub. Klaipeda is not in the top 15 list but will handle more than 1 million again this year. Gdynia is also approaching the 1 million TEU threshold. ✔ If the current traffic trends continue throughout 2024, the top 15 rankings will change by year-end. The Benelux ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp-Bruges are set to remain the largest container ports in the EU by a significant margin. If the current growth trends continue for the rest of the year, the difference in container volume between these two major ports will shrink to less than 0.5 million TEU. The gap between Rotterdam and Hamburg widens to more than 6 million TEU. Valencia is expected to overtake Piraeus to become the fourth largest EU port in 2024 and about 2 million TEU from Hamburg's volume. Also Algeciras might overtake Piraeus, pushing the Greek port to position 6 closely followed by Barcelona. The French HAROPA is expected to gain two places to reach the tenth position in the ranking. #PEMP - https://lnkd.in/dX2GiEPX #Porteconomics - https://lnkd.in/e9Rjd-bi

A container ship has been sunk in the Black Sea, while three of the world’s largest liner operators have suspended services to key Ukrainian ports. The FESCO-operated Yanina sank on August 1 after being struck by maritime drones around 130 nautical miles from Novorossiysk. All 17 crew members were rescued. The incident came as container carriers were already withdrawing direct capacity from Ukraine’s Black Sea gateways. Maersk suspended its feeder service to Chornomorsk Fishing Port on July 22. CMA CGM said on July 23 that it could no longer serve Odesa by sea. Hapag-Lloyd followed on July 31, suspending feeder calls at Chornomorsk, Odesa and Pivdennyi until further notice. The three decisions were taken before Yanina was sunk, so the attack was not the direct trigger. But the loss of the vessel shows how quickly maritime risk is spreading beyond the immediate approaches to Ukrainian ports. For shipowners, charterers, insurers and seafarers, the risk assessment is no longer limited to Odesa and the north-western Black Sea. Russian port approaches, the Sea of Azov, the Kerch Strait and waters near Novorossiysk are also becoming increasingly exposed. Ukraine-related container cargo is now being redirected through alternative gateways including Reni, Constanța and Gdańsk, with the final leg moving by road, rail or other inland transport. The cargo can still move, but the supply chain is becoming longer, more expensive and more fragmented. The Greater Odesa port cluster is now close to losing its direct connection with the global container liner network. What began as a series of port disruptions is increasingly becoming a structural reorganisation of Black Sea shipping and regional trade. #BlackSea #Ukraine #FESCO #Yanina #HapagLloyd #Maersk #CMACGM #ContainerShipping #MaritimeSecurity #Shipping #SupplyChain