Nearly 50% of voyages from Asia to the Middle East have been cancelled, and capacity has been transferred to trans-Pacific routes

At present, many parts of the world are preparing for the peak shopping season in November and December. The shipping market is extremely hot, there is a serious shortage of containers and cargo ships, and freight rates have soared, especially the shipping rates on the trans-Pacific route from Asia to North America have risen to "outrageous" levels.

It is understood that due to the serious shortage of container shipping capacity and the current prominent demand for trans-Pacific routes from Asia to the United States, the routes from Asia (mainly China) to the Middle East are being deeply affected. In addition, freight rates on the US West Coast routes are also at record levels. Shipping companies have canceled routes from Asia to the Middle East, with nearly half of the routes being canceled almost every week, and the capacity has been transferred to the trans-Pacific routes from Asia to the United States.

It is reported that the current freight rate from Shanghai to Jebel Ali is about US$4,000 per container , while the price of containers from Shanghai to the west coast of the United States has soared to US$20,000 per standard container! It seems that the freight rate of the trans-Pacific route from Asia to the United States is really attracting more shipping companies to join in!

As a result, not only the Middle East, but also trade markets in many parts of the world will be affected. It is reported that the coverage of routes to Asia, Africa, Oceania and Latin America has been reduced. In fact, it is not just a problem of cargo ship shortage, port congestion and timely loading and unloading of containers are also important factors affecting shipping.

Just a few days ago, there was news that in order to alleviate the country's supply chain disruption problem, the acting general manager of Nigeria's port authority is asking the country's ports to auction unclaimed containers. They call containers that stay at the port for more than 90 days after the owners unload the goods "overtime" containers.

According to the acting general manager of the Nigerian Ports Authority, there are more than 5,000 such "overdue" containers in Nigerian ports, which occupy the country's available container space. In the current situation of broken supply chains, lack of containers and shortage of cargo ships, port congestion caused by "overdue" containers will further aggravate shipping blockages and trade losses.

Nearly half of flights from Asia to the Middle East cancelled

More trans-Pacific routes