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I’m neither an economist nor a forecaster. However, there are a few key market indicators I’ve been tracking in recent months in an effort to see though the cloudy forecasts of leading construction economists.
Surging container rates slash US PET imports, boosting domestic prices Record high container shipping rates have impacted the US import market for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin by slashing shipments to the US and giving a boost to the domestic industry. US prices for the clear plastic resin, used to make drink bottles, had been steadily declining for almost two years until June 2020, when the market staged a recovery, which brought domestic prices to a multi-year high in April. S&P Global Platts assessed US prices for bottle-grade PET railcars at $1,389/mt on April 28, up by 47% from...
Container shipping lines to cut free time, increase surcharges in 2021 contracts Companies negotiating annual container shipping contracts with shipping lines before the end of the first quarter can expect increases in peak season surcharges and decreases in allowable free time with the container, as shipowners gain leverage from increased demand, industry participants say. The widespread shortage of empty containers in Asia will compel shipowners to use their greater bargaining power to finally slash free time, the number of days a beneficial cargo owner is given to return a container to the...
Container vessels planning to berth at Singapore port are now facing longer wait times, market sources said, with one source estimating that this has grown to five to seven days from a maximum of two days to turn around an 18,000 TEU vessel. “There is a lot of port congestion in Singapore, which is one ...
Singapore-based ONE signs long-term charter for six record-sized containerships Singapore-based container shipowner Ocean Network Express has agreed to a 15-year charter for six of the largest container ships ever built at more than 24,000 twenty-foot equivalent units when the ships are delivered in 2023-2024, the company said Dec. 24. ONE signed the letter of intent for a long-term charter with Shoei Kisen Kaisha, the shipowning arm of Imabari Shipbuilding, who will build the ships in consortium with Japan Marine United. “This new class of ships will join our core fleet and forms part of o...