A strike in the US East and Gulf-Coast ports could hit more than half of US imports and 15 per cent of the global container fleet capacity, HSBC says
SLIDING ocean freight rates could be under further downward pressure, but might find support from the scheduled port strike on the US East Coast if the industrial action plays out and runs into weeks.
Already, carriers have announced that they would impose “disruption surcharges” in view of the labour walkout.
The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index has been on a decline since June, except for a brief respite in mid-July. The index covers 13 export trades out of Shanghai, and is the world’s most widely used index for spot market ocean-freight rates for Chinese imports.
