Container market remains under pressure

The container prices are falling for the second week in a row. International trade breathes a sigh of relief as higher trade tariffs are temporarily off the table, following Trump's statement that he will not take Greenland by force. The Drewry World Container Index drops for the second consecutive week by 10%, to $2,212 per 40-foot container. Just like last week, this is due to falling spot rates on the routes from Asia. From Shanghai to Los Angeles and New York, the spot rates decreased by 12% and 11% respectively. A decline of 9% was seen to Rotterdam and 8% to Genoa. Drewry expects that container prices will continue to fall in the coming weeks. Whether or not via the Suez Canal Drewry notes that the strategies of shipping companies regarding the Suez Canal vary. For example, CMA CGM switches three services between Asia and Europe from the Suez Canal to the Cape of Good Hope while Maersk will let ships traveling from India to the east coast of the US set sail via the Suez Canal at the end of this month. According to Freightos, this ensures that there is not significant pressure on ports, which would be the case if ships were to return en masse to the Red Sea. The trade war that Trump threatened to reignite has been (temporarily) subdued. Trump seems to have backed down from his plan to acquire Greenland. Additional import tariffs of 10% and European counter-tariffs seem to be off the table as well. There were fears of a negative effect on US imports. However, various leaders and industry organizations warn against celebrating too early, as experience shows that Trump can say something completely different one day than the next. The fact remains that he explicitly stated in Davos that he would not use force to take Greenland. Although a tariff war seems to have been averted, trust in the NATO ally has indeed been damaged, now on a deeper level than before. The looming trade tariffs did not lead to large-scale frontloading. The intended implementation time was too short for that. Longer flights, same air freight rates Although some airlines continue to avoid Iranian airspace and therefore have to fly longer between Asia and Europe, air freight rates remain stable, reports Freightos. According to the data platform, prices are $3.62 per kilo from China to Europe and around $2.90 per kilo from Southeast Asia.