An ocean container capacity crunch has hit global trade just as peak shipping season starts, with freight spot rates up some 30% over the past few weeks and heading higher.
Bad weather, longer ocean transits, and vessels skipping ports are adding to the supply chain issues.
The beginning of peak shipping season, coupled with the longer transits to avoid the Red Sea, and bad weather in Asia, have hit the flow of trade on key routes. Ocean carriers are skipping ports or decreasing their time at port, and not picking up empty containers, in an effort to keep vessels on track for delivery.
DHL has been warning about about a container crunch since January because of the longer routes needed to avoid the Red Sea since the Houthi attacks began. Containers are out on the water longer and as a result not available to be reloaded. The availability of containers has been slowed even further by the bad weather impacting port operations in China, Malaysia, and Singapore.
Bad weather in East Asia at the end of April created some further delays, which was one factor leading ocean carriers to skip some port calls or shorten their turnaround at destination ports to make up time. That also means fewer empty containers have been brought back to China.
According to an Honour Lane Shipping note to clients, the “huge rate increases” could push the market to a new post-pandemic high. ″While spot rates continue to soar, capacity out of Asia continues to tighten,” HLS wrote to clients, and that has allowed carriers to implement a “diamond rate … played during pandemic period,” it added.
Citing the re-routing of ships around the Horn of Africa due to the Red Sea issues accounts for 17% of global container shipping capacity, and HLS warned the cancellation or blanking of ships will only add to the pressure of soaring freight rates.
Reference:
Today we announce that Exim is rebranding as ExSyn. We are presenting a new brand identity and website as a reflection of our relentless transformation over the course of 30 years serving the pharma and chemical industries. The new brand builds upon our core strengths as a sourcing company and captures our most essential duty: helping improve people’s health and lives.
(S)-Oxetan-2-yl-methanamine is a chiral oxetane-containing primary amine. The compound features a strained four-membered oxetane ring and an aminomethyl substituent, making it a valuable building block in modern medicinal chemistry. Due to its unique physicochemical properties, including increased polarity and metabolic stability compared with conventional alkyl groups, it is widely employed as an advanced pharmaceutical intermediate in drug discovery and development programs.
Guanidine carbonate is a white, crystalline, water-soluble compound with an alkaline and ionic nature. Composed of guanidinium cations and carbonate anions, it offers chemical stability, buffering capacity, and good formulation compatibility. In textile applications, it is used in formulations and fabric treatments for its thickening, softening, lubricating, anti-static, and flame-retardant properties, contributing to improved fabric finish and performance.
On 14 July 2026, the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) published a comprehensive briefing on PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), also known as ‘forever chemicals’. The document is intended to serve as a technical basis for MEPs in their upcoming political decisions on PFAS regulation and summarises the current state of scientific knowledge, regulation and procedures.