Pacific supply glut to cause July rate plunge

Transpacific capacity already committed to entering the trades will see supply side growth of more than 30% on April levels even as demand has faltered substantially, according to the latest data from analyst Linerlytica.

In April this year capacity between Asia and the US had been trimmed to 290,000 teu, but with a 90-day hiatus in Donald Trump’s trade war in mid-May anticipated to signal a major influx of freight ahead of the August deadline, for Chinese cargo, carriers deployed tonnage to meet that expected demand.