Intra-Asia freight rates are expected to remain elevated through January as tight capacity continues during an extended peak season ahead of the Lunar New Year, reports London’s S&P Global.
Rates on services between China and Southeast Asia have reached multi-month highs, driven by frontloading ahead of reciprocal tariffs between the US and China, which have since been paused.
Carriers are announcing general rate increases of US$50 to $150 per TEU on a bi-weekly basis, according to FIBS Logistics in Singapore.
Spot rates from Shanghai to Singapore hit $540 per TEU last week, the highest since Jan. 10, data from the Shanghai Shipping Exchange showed.
Xeneta reported similar trends, with FEU rates from Shanghai to Singapore climbing to $1,110, the highest since June.
Rates from Shanghai to Bangkok reached $1,431 per FEU, the highest since August 1, while Shanghai to Ho Chi Minh City rose to $1,045 per FEU, last seen in July.
Analysts said this year’s pre-Christian peak will merge into the pre-Lunar New Year rush, as factories in China close early to allow workers to return home.
Chinese customs data showed exports to ASEAN grew US$61 billion between February and September, while exports to Northeast Asia increased US$41 billion.
Exports to the US fell $70 billion in the same period due to tariff disputes.
Oxford Economics said ASEAN now accounts for a steadily rising share of China’s outbound shipments, offsetting weaker demand in developed markets in the US and Northeast Asia.
Global schedule reliability decline continues to 61.4pc in October
Global container shipping schedule reliability fell month-on- month by 3.5 percentage points to 61.4 percent in October 2025, according to Sea-Intelligence, reported Saint Petersburg’s Port News.
The decline marked only the second significant monthly drop this year and followed three months of stable performance.
Year-on-year, reliability rose 11.1 percentage points.
The average delay for late vessel arrivals edged up by 0.04 days to 4.98 days month-on-month, though still 0.87 days lower year on year.
Maersk was the most reliable among the top 13 carriers in October at 74.1 percent, followed by Hapag-Lloyd at 69.6 percent and MSC at 65.9 percent.
Nine of the remaining ten carriers were in the 50-60 percent range, with PIL lowest at 44.9 percent.
Sea-Intelligence continues to and use two alliance metrics: “All arrivals,” introduced in February, and “Trade arrivals,” aligned with earlier methodology.
The measures are expected to converge once new alliances are fully implemented.
In September and October, Gemini Cooperation recorded 88.6 percent reliability for All arrivals and 86.0 percent for Trade arrivals.
MSC followed with 77.5 percent and 80.5 percent respectively Premier Alliance reported 64.6 percent and 54.6 percent, while Ocean Alliance posted 65 percent.
Sea-Intelligence, based in Denmark, provides analytics and advisory services for the global container shipping industry, specialising in operational performance metrics and reliability assessments.
Yang Ming adds direct Cai Mep call to US East Coast
Yang Ming has enhanced its Trans-Pacific East Coast services by adding a direct call from Cai Mep to the US East Coast on the EC2 service.
The two-year adjustment revises rotations for EC1, EC2, and EC3, improving transit times and providing greater flexibility between Southeast Asia and the US East Coast.
For EC2, eastbound vessels will maintain Panama routing while adding Cai Mep and removing Xiamen; westbound will switch to Cape of Good Hope routing, adding Halifax and Singapore and removing Manzanillo and Pusan.
EC1 westbound will add Manzanillo and Pusan, while EC3 westbound will omit Halifax, with imports shifted to EC2.
The first affected voyages are HMM Victory 0058E (Cai Mep, 22 December 2025), Hyundai Pluto 0043W (Halifax, 10 December 2025), Conti Contessa 0022W (Manzanillo, 16 December 2025), and One Munchen 0042W (Jacksonville, 30 November 2025).
These changes optimise rotations, enhance operational efficiency, and expand routing options for Yang Ming customers.
In November, Yang Ming (America) Corporation (YMA) transitioned its Houston-based customer service operations to the company’s Global Service Center (GSC) and consolidated selected corporate functions at its New Jersey headquarters.
Air cargo demand from Asia Pacific to US continues to grow
Air freight volumes from Southeast Asia to the US grew at the fastest rate of the year in October as manufacturing continues to diversify away from China, reports London’s Air Cargo News.
Figures from World ACD showed overall demand from Asia Pacific to the US was up six percent year on year in week 46, with Southeast Asia and Taiwan leading growth.
Demand from Southeast Asia origins rose 40 percent in October, the highest monthly increase this year. For the first 10 months, tonnages from the region to the US averaged nearly 26 percent higher year on year.
By contrast, tonnages from China fell two percent, Hong Kong dropped 16 percent and South Korea slipped 10 percent in week 46. Year-to-date volumes from China and Hong Kong to the US are down nearly six percent.
Analysts said the figures reflect US importers seeking suppliers outside China.
Taiwan’s growth also reflects strong demand for high-performance semiconductor chips used in Al.
Air imports from Taiwan have consistently risen 30-50 percent this year, with similar increases from Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia in week 46, tonnages from Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia rose 41, 60, 37 and 62 percent respectively.
Rates on Asia Pacific services climbed ahead of Black Friday and Thanksgiving, rising four percent week on week to $4.11 per kg.
However, spot rates remain 11 percent lower than last year.
Hyundai notes HMM order, most broadly w box ship orders in 18 years
HD Korea Shipbuilding said it has reached its highest containerships order levels since 2007, driven by a new order from HMM, reports Fort Lauderdale’s Maritime Executive.
HMM announced in October it was ordering large containership and tankers worth about US$2.8 billion, split between HD Hyundai and Hanwha Ocean.
The milestone came as HMM surpassed one million TEU in fleet capacity.
Hyundai said the new dual-fuel LNG vessels will be 337 metres long with capacity for 13,400 TEU.
The $1.46 billion order covers eight ships, six to be built at Samho and two at HHI, with deliveries through mid-2029.
Hanwha Ocean will build four more vessels of similar size.
The ships will feature fuel ng tanks 50 percent larger than standard, improving efficiency.
Hyundai highlighted its technology strength as key to securing the order.
With the deal confirmed, HD Hyundai has booked 69 container vessels totalling 720,000 TEU, compared with 793,473 TEU during the 2007 supercycle.
The company said its HINAS Control navigation system offers RPM optimisation and a 15 percent cut in carbon emissions, helping it compete against lower-cost Chinese rivals.
HD KSOE also announced plans to merge Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hyundai Samho into one operating company to improve management efficiency.
Hapag-Lloyd to renew fleet
Hapag-Lloyd is pressing ahead with a fleet renewal ability decline ahead with a fleet renewal programme that could see up to 22 new container vessels added in the sub-5,000 TEU class.
The Hamburg-based carrier said the move is part of its long-term strategy to modernise and decarbonize operations, reports Taiwan’s Steel News.
The company said the new ships will be a mix of owned and long-term chartered units.
It described the initiative as a milestone in improving efficiency and progressing toward net-zero fleet operations by 2045.
The investment targets smaller vessel classes to replace ageing tonnage and reduce exposure to costly charter markets.
Hapag- Lloyd said fuel-efficient designs will help cut costs and emissions.
Market sources said the carrier has approached Chinese ship- yards for two series of vessels.
Indicative prices are US$60 million for the smaller ships and $70 million for the larger ones.
Colombo Port lifts volumes 6.7pc in nine months
Colombo Port handled nearly 6.2 million TEU in the first nine months of 2025, a rise of 6.7 percent from a year earlier, as Sri Lanka pursues port expansion and digitsation despite ship omissions disrupting industry, reports Colombo’s Daily FT.
Central Bank data show September throughput rose 14.4 percent year on year to 742,116 TEU, broadly unchanged from August.
Transshipment volumes reached 4.94 million TEU in the nine-month period, up 4.8 percent and accounting for 80 percent of the total.
September transshipment stood at 584,863 TEU, up 13.1 percent year on year but slightly down from August.
Domestic handling increased 13.6 percent to 971,875 TEU in the first nine months.
September domestic volumes rose 12.6 percent year on year to 113,551 TEU, little changed from August.
Re-stowing posted the strongest gains, jumping 20 percent to 267,231 TEU in the period, with September rising 42.4 percent year on year to 43,702 TEU.
Vessel calls across Colombo, Galle, Trincomalee and Hambantota climbed 12.6 percent to 3,792 in the first nine months.
September recorded 457 calls, up nineteen-point six percent year on year and stable month on month.
The Government aims to strengthen Colombo?? Logistics role through capacity expansion, including Phase II of the Western Container Terminal with Asian Development Bank support and preparatory work on the Colombo North Port Development Project.
Digitalisation measures such as the Port Community System are being scaled up, alongside new trade facilitation sites at Kerawalapitiya and Bloemendal.