Here Is The Shipping Forecast;: Clarkson (CKN) 787p

Me too CR! This is an interesting article quoting CKN themselves, indicating that any extra capacity is being eaten up by demand and freight rates are going higher - backing up the zooming BDI chart since Q2'06:



"Maersk, 15 Shipping Lines to Raise Europe-Asia Rates (Update1)

By Kyunghee Park

Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- A.P. Moeller Maersk A/S, Mediterranean Shipping Co. and 14 other shipping lines plan to raise their rates for moving cargo to Europe from Asia as global demand expands.

The 16-member Far Eastern Freight Conference plans to raise three-month contract rates for shipping goods to Europe from Asia, excluding Japan, by $200 per 20-foot standard containers from Jan. 1, it said in a statement on its Web site. There were no guidelines for adjustments in the first quarter this year.

Maersk and other companies have said demand to move cargo by sea was stronger than expected, allowing them to stem a yearlong fall in rates caused by an increase in the number of ships. Higher charges will help improve shipping lines' profits, which have been eroded by fuel costs.

``The environment in the shipping industry appears to have improved much from last year with demand remaining strong,'' said Ryu Je Hyun, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities in Seoul. ``This should help the shipping lines as they negotiate with individual client on rate increases for next year.''

The group, which handles about 60 percent of trade between Asia and Europe, will also lift rates for one-year contracts for shipments to Europe from Japan by $300 per container from Jan. 1 and by $150 per box for contracts starting on July 1.

Increasing Trade

The container industry, which ships as much as 90 percent of the world's manufactured goods, has absorbed much of the extra capacity, stabilizing rates, London-based shipbroker Clarkson Plc said last month.

Trade to Europe from Asia increased 14 percent from year earlier and that to the U.S. rose 11 percent, stronger than the demand forecast of 10 percent, analyst Julie Lim at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said in a Nov. 15 note.

The 11-member Transpacific Stabilization Agreement, which includes Evergreen Marine Corp. and Cosco Container Lines Ltd., plans to raise the rate for moving cargo to the U.S. from Asia by $300 per 40-foot boxes next year.

Hapag-Lloyd AG said on Nov. 28 that it will raise rates for voyages to the North Atlantic coast of North America, the Gulf of Mexico and U.S. West Coast from Feb. 1. It will charge an extra $200 to ship a 20-foot container and $250 more for a 40- foot box.

The average rate for shipping goods to Europe from Asia dropped 22 percent from a year earlier to $1,408 per 20-foot container in the second quarter, according to Containerisation International, which tracks the industry."