Some steamship lines have reportedly been refusing new bookings for containers from UK & European ports to the Middle East and Asia recently. The squeeze on capacity has been caused by cancelled sailings around the Chinese New Year period, largely influenced by the upcoming reshuffle in carrier alliances.

Export rates have been rising sharply too as demand has started to outweigh supply and this trend may continue beyond this month, until the new alliances and schedules are bedded in.

While space issues are unprecedented for this time of year, this does follow a similar pattern to the recent issues experienced on imports from Asia, where capacity was unusually stretched following CNY.  There may be further disruption to sailings and services over the next few weeks as carriers align vessels to the needs of their new alliances and in some cases completely change their UK port of call.

While Uniserve customers have not been directly affected by capacity short shipments, we are monitoring the situation closely and will keep clients advised of any movement in costs. Should you require any further information then please contact your local Uniserve representative or email info@ugroup.co.uk.