{"id":4607,"date":"2020-08-26T21:56:13","date_gmt":"2020-08-26T21:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siships.com\/?p=4607"},"modified":"2020-08-26T21:56:13","modified_gmt":"2020-08-26T21:56:13","slug":"ocean-cargo-rates-peak-as-demand-surges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/ocean-cargo-rates-peak-as-demand-surges\/","title":{"rendered":"Ocean Cargo Rates Peak as Demand Surges"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Covid-19, Limited Capacity, and More Factors Have Driven Freight Rates to Set New Records<\/h2>\n<p>Although back-to-school season and holiday preparations consistently make August a peak season for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supplychaindive.com\/news\/pandemic-peak-freight-ocean-airfreight-truck-railroad-rates\/582718\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ocean freight<\/a>, this year is seeing a uniquely high increase \u2013 in both rates and capacity. The blanking of sailings earlier in the summer in response to the <a href=\"https:\/\/siships.com\/covid-19-pandemic-continues-to-affect-ocean-cargo-capacity\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Covid-19 pandemic<\/a>, combined with concerns over tariffs as the first trade agreement with China nears expiration, has generated a boom in demand that outpaces capacity. As a result, Asia-US West Coast spot rates have set new records, with Shanghai to US West Coast routes seeing a 167 percent increase from 2019.<\/p>\n<p>Further, analysts are predicting another General Rate Increase (GRI) for trans-Pacific ocean cargo routes this month, marking the fifth since June 1. While earlier in the summer, increased rates were driven by significant numbers of blank sailings (a response to reduced exports from Asia due to Covid-19), these new GRIs are built on a surge of demand as inbound volume sees a year-over-year increase. We explored the factors at play in this increase, as well as potential future events that may impact rates further.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright wp-image-4608 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Snag_11f414bd.png\" alt=\"Spot Rates Increase Ocean Cargo\" width=\"489\" height=\"312\" srcset=\"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Snag_11f414bd.png 489w, https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Snag_11f414bd-300x191.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 489px) 100vw, 489px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Capacity Versus Demand<\/h3>\n<p>Since the start of the year, capacity and demand have been drastically fluctuating. The onset of Covid-19 meant a sudden halt of economies, starting in China and Asia. With fewer imports \u2013 and lower consumer demand \u2013 carriers cut capacity radically, with 19 percent of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.freightwaves.com\/news\/fewer-trans-pacific-cuts-signal-3q-demand-on-the-mend\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">total sailings blanked<\/a> in May and 15 percent in June.<\/p>\n<p>This summer, economies began to move again and US imports from Asia rose by more than 20 percent between June and July. In particular, a significant consumer demand for items like fitness equipment, at-home activities, and furniture, as well as the consistent <a href=\"https:\/\/siships.com\/how-importers-are-reducing-the-us-ppe-shortage\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">demand for PPE<\/a>, drove retailers to increase their imports to satisfy demand. Now, with only <a href=\"https:\/\/www.joc.com\/maritime-news\/container-lines\/trans-pacific-gris-pushing-spot-rates-above-3500-feu_20200810.html?page=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">3 West Coast sailings blanked<\/a> for August and September, capacity is nearly back to normal \u2013 yet need for space is outpacing it. To combat this, carriers have added additional sailings from Asia, or \u201cextra-loaders,\u201d with 10 scheduled for August and an extra 5 for September; however, these additional sailings haven\u2019t been enough to eliminate the capacity crunch, maintaining increased spot rates.<\/p>\n<h3>External Factors at Play<\/h3>\n<p>Beyond Covid-19, additional factors are also at play. Uncertainty surrounding the <a href=\"https:\/\/siships.com\/phase-one-of-us-china-trade-deal-reduces-tariffs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">US-China trade deal<\/a> has driven importers to bring their goods over from China earlier than normal, hoping to avoid the potential of a large tariff increase. Likewise, as the American election looms, importers and carriers alike are doing their best to anticipate potential shifts in the market.<\/p>\n<p>Seasonal trends have also shifted \u2013 consumers are prioritizing furnishings and other goods for at-home use outside of their typical peak seasons and forgoing traditional purchases for this time of year like back-to-school gear or Halloween items.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>We understand that tracking rates can be difficult. With years of experience in freight forwarding, we build our software SiShips. With this program, you can ensure your business is always receiving the best rate available \u2013 and get access to seamless cargo tracking, instant quotes, and more.<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/siships.com\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Contact us today<\/a> to learn more about how SiShips can help streamline your import and export experience.<\/h4>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Covid-19, Limited Capacity, and More Factors Have Driven Freight Rates to Set New Records Although back-to-school season and holiday preparations consistently make August a peak season for ocean freight, this [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":186,"featured_media":4609,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[24],"tags":[121,58,57,67,119,118,90,91,122,60,120],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v18.5.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ocean Cargo Rates Peak as Demand Surges - SiShips<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ocean cargo rates are setting new records as demand outpaces capacity, despite carriers reinstating sailings and adding extra-loaders.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/ocean-cargo-rates-peak-as-demand-surges\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ocean Cargo Rates Peak as Demand Surges - SiShips\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ocean cargo rates are setting new records as demand outpaces capacity, despite carriers reinstating sailings and adding extra-loaders.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/ocean-cargo-rates-peak-as-demand-surges\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SiShips\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-08-26T21:56:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/container-1611490_1920.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sheltered International\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"SiShips\",\"description\":\"Logistics Provider\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/ocean-cargo-rates-peak-as-demand-surges\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/container-1611490_1920.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/container-1611490_1920.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1280},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/ocean-cargo-rates-peak-as-demand-surges\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/ocean-cargo-rates-peak-as-demand-surges\/\",\"name\":\"Ocean Cargo Rates Peak as Demand Surges - SiShips\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/ocean-cargo-rates-peak-as-demand-surges\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-26T21:56:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-08-26T21:56:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ad560f64a71bf22da416314436b330c6\"},\"description\":\"Ocean cargo rates are setting new records as demand outpaces capacity, despite carriers reinstating sailings and adding extra-loaders.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/ocean-cargo-rates-peak-as-demand-surges\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/ocean-cargo-rates-peak-as-demand-surges\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/ocean-cargo-rates-peak-as-demand-surges\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ocean Cargo Rates Peak as Demand Surges\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ad560f64a71bf22da416314436b330c6\",\"name\":\"Sheltered International\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/32a849c5bb8bf71dddc425122b91b57d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/32a849c5bb8bf71dddc425122b91b57d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sheltered International\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/author\/kchambersmeerkatmediagroup-com\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ocean Cargo Rates Peak as Demand Surges - SiShips","description":"Ocean cargo rates are setting new records as demand outpaces capacity, despite carriers reinstating sailings and adding extra-loaders.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/ocean-cargo-rates-peak-as-demand-surges\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ocean Cargo Rates Peak as Demand Surges - SiShips","og_description":"Ocean cargo rates are setting new records as demand outpaces capacity, despite carriers reinstating sailings and adding extra-loaders.","og_url":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/ocean-cargo-rates-peak-as-demand-surges\/","og_site_name":"SiShips","article_published_time":"2020-08-26T21:56:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1280,"url":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/container-1611490_1920.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sheltered International","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/","name":"SiShips","description":"Logistics Provider","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/ocean-cargo-rates-peak-as-demand-surges\/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/container-1611490_1920.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/container-1611490_1920.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/ocean-cargo-rates-peak-as-demand-surges\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/ocean-cargo-rates-peak-as-demand-surges\/","name":"Ocean Cargo Rates Peak as Demand Surges - SiShips","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/ocean-cargo-rates-peak-as-demand-surges\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2020-08-26T21:56:13+00:00","dateModified":"2020-08-26T21:56:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ad560f64a71bf22da416314436b330c6"},"description":"Ocean cargo rates are setting new records as demand outpaces capacity, despite carriers reinstating sailings and adding extra-loaders.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/ocean-cargo-rates-peak-as-demand-surges\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/ocean-cargo-rates-peak-as-demand-surges\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/ocean-cargo-rates-peak-as-demand-surges\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ocean Cargo Rates Peak as Demand Surges"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ad560f64a71bf22da416314436b330c6","name":"Sheltered International","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/32a849c5bb8bf71dddc425122b91b57d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/32a849c5bb8bf71dddc425122b91b57d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Sheltered International"},"url":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/author\/kchambersmeerkatmediagroup-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4607"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/186"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4607"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4611,"href":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4607\/revisions\/4611"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siships.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}