Container traffic from Asia to North Europe is finally trending upwards. So far, pricing gains have been minimal for carriers.
For the first time this year the headhaul Asia to North Europe container trade in October was able to string together two consecutive months with positive year-on-year growth. Westbound demand increased by 7.8% in September, followed by a 5.4% rise in October, according to data derived from CTS.
The most recent figures are putting on some gloss to what has otherwise been a very depressing year for Asia-Europe carriers. After 10 months of the year the westbound trade was up by just 1.2% to approximately 8.3 million teu and the late-year rally could well see it approach Drewry’s annual forecast rate of 2.1% made three months ago.
