He said that the situation today is the worst he¡¯s witnessed ¡ª and he believes it¡¯s about to get even more severe.
¡°Buckle up. The month of May will be the worst people have ever seen,¡± he predicted. Because some shippers will have to wait in line behind the growing backlog in Asia, he expects ¡°what¡¯s going to happen soon is that some importers won¡¯t even be able to get on the boat. For them, it will almost feel like trade is coming to a halt.¡±
FreightWaves¡¯ SONAR platform features a proprietary index of shippers¡¯ ocean bookings (SONAR: IOTI.USA). Bookings to the U.S. are measured in TEUs on a 10-day-moving-average basis as of the scheduled date of overseas departure. As of Monday, the index was at a new all-time high and forward bookings data showed a continued rise ahead.
Spot premiums back with vengeance
But that¡¯s only part of the rate story. ¡°Indexes are not bills. Premiums are not reflected in the indexes,¡± Earlier this year, some of the premium ges came down as container availability in Asia improved. That¡¯s reversed, who noted that the Ever Given incident in the Suez Canal pulled container equipment from the market. ¡°Container shortages in Asia are again very bad because of the Ever Given, and it will take another four to six weeks to come back to normal.¡±
The added premiums to get spot cargo loaded ¡°are back and they¡¯re higher than before.¡° everything is basically a free-for-all auction. You are basically offering as much money as you can and hoping somebody will take it. Many importers are now struggling. We¡¯re seeing so many new customers approaching us asking for help because they
