The ocean freight market is in standoff as peak contract season hits

March and April are critical months for ocean carriers looking to ink annual freight contracts with shippers, including the world’s biggest retailers, but this year contract season is turning into a waiting game. The $2,500 spread between spot market rates and long-term freight contract rates for Asia to U.S. West Coast containers has reached its … Read more

CEO of top ocean freight carrier says outlook has changed for economy

The Toronto Express container ship, operated by Hapag-Lloyd AG at the Port of Hamburg in Hamburg, Germany, on Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023. Maria Feck | Bloomberg | Getty Images Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd, the world’s fifth-largest ocean carrier, tells CNBC he has an improved view on trade for the rest of 2024. Conversations … Read more

Air freight rates to rise as shippers enter survival mode

DHL Cargo planes are unloaded at Halle-Leipzig Airport on February 28, 2014 in Leipzig, Germany. The soon to-be-expanded hub handles 2,000 tons of cargo, or 100,000 parcels and documents every business day. Up to 60 cargo planes land every weeknight. Marco Prosch | Getty Images The Houthi attacks in the Red Sea are not only … Read more

Red Sea troubles could end shipping recession as freight rates spike

The Maersk Sentosa container ship sails southbound to exit the Suez Canal in Suez, Egypt, on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023. Stringer | Bloomberg | Getty Images Vessels transiting the Red Sea have faced attacks over the past several weeks from Yemen-based Houthis, prompting shipping companies to change routes, leading to a spike in freight rates. … Read more

Container prices hit $10,000, freight inflation soars in Red Sea chaos

With the Red Sea diversions by shipping companies including Maersk continuing amid the risk of attacks by the Houthis, global logistics managers are faced with a two-front storm of rising ocean and air freight prices and stranded cargo. Both are threats to the global supply chain after three tumultuous years of inflationary pressures and delays … Read more

Ukraine set off 4 explosive devices on a freight train operating on the only major railroad connecting Russia and China: report

Ukraine targeted a freight train with four explosive devices, an unnamed source told CNN. It is the only major railroad connecting Russia and China for military supplies, per Russian media. “The explosion is yet another successful special operation by the SBU,” the source told CNN. Ukraine set off four explosive devices on a freight train … Read more

Flexport acquires technology of former digital freight unicorn Convoy

Supply chain logistics platform Flexport is acquiring the assets of shuttered digital freight network Convoy, according to a memo Flexport CEO Ryan Peterson sent to staff Wednesday. Flexport will restore Convoy’s trucking logistics services for customers in the coming weeks, reads the memo, shared by Freight Waves. Peterson said Flexport won’t acquire the business or … Read more

10 Cuban migrants are killed in a freight truck crash in southern Mexico, 17 seriously injured

TAPACHULA, Chiapas — At least 10 Cuban migrants died and 17 others were seriously injured after a freight truck they were riding in crashed on a highway in southern Mexico near the border with Guatemala. The National Immigration Institute said all of the dead Cuban migrants were women, and one of them was under 18. … Read more