In a scenario that continues to be extremely volatile, due to the uncertain outcomes of Trump’s war on tariffs, shipping companies have, for the time being, decided not to resort to massive blank sailings, and to wait for the situation to stabilize, one way or the other.
Sea Intelligence noted how the threat of tariffs has led carriers to reduce their transpacific capacity and yet keep their transatlantic one stable.
Along the routes connecting the west coast of Asia to North America, for example, a total deployment of 1.43 million TEUs was scheduled for the period between the 14th to 20th April week and the 5th to 11th May one. (i.e from week 16 to week 19)
The schedule announced in week No. 10 (which started on 3rd March) remained the same in the following week, only to drop to a total of 1.40 million TEUs in week No. 12.
In week 13 (which began on 24th March), the planned capacity for weeks 16-19 fell by 8% on a weekly basis to 1.29 million TEUs. It then continued to fall to 1.37 million TEUs by week 15 (which started on 7 April), coinciding with the announcement of new duties coming into force (on 2nd April). This is a 12% drop overall from what was planned six weeks earlier.
On the Asia-North America east coast, scheduled capacity for weeks 16 to 19 dwindled from 1.01 million TEUs planned for week 10 to 867,000 TEUs planned for week 15, representing a 14% drop over the six-week period.
As mentioned above, transatlantic traffic was not affected in the same way; capacity remained substantially stable. In this case, the temporary suspension of duties announced on 10th April by the US but also by the EU has certainly influenced the decisions liners have taken over the last few weeks.
Translation by Giles Foster
