The closure of the Suez route has changed the fundamental outlook for container shipping in 2024, with a potential capacity crunch in Asia looming in the short term, according to the January report of the Baltic Exchange.

In the report, Vespucci Maritime CEO Lars Jensen wrote that up until mid-December 2023, the baseline outlook for 2024 was for a continued cyclical downturn likely with freight rates bottoming out in late 1Q or early 2Q 2024.

Jensen wrote, “After this, it was anticipated that carriers would begin to idle more capacity to stabilise and strengthen rates from what had already become loss-making levels. The de-facto closure of the Suez routing has changed this baseline outlook fundamentally.”

Threats of attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, the entry to the Suez, has made many operators detour vessels around the Cape of Good Hope.

Operating the Asia-Europe and part of the Asia-US East Coast network will absorb 5 to 6% of global capacity. This should be manageable given the amount of overcapacity that had accumulated in the market.

The Chinese mainland is considering suspending preferential customs duties on a broader category of goods imported from Taiwan in response to trade restrictions and political manipulation by the island's administration. The announcement was made by China's Ministry of Commerce on Tuesday.

The decision may affect agricultural, fishery and machinery products, auto parts and textiles, which are currently subject to preferential tariff rates under the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait /ECFA/, a ministry spokesman said in response to a reporter's question.

The ECFA is a comprehensive economic pact between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait designed to reduce commercial barriers between mainland China and Taiwan.

According to a statement from the Customs Duties Committee under the State Council of the People's Republic of China, mainland China has suspended ECFA tariff rates on 12 Taiwanese goods, including propylene and paraxylene, effective Jan. 1, 2024. The decision was in response to Taiwan's unilateral and discriminatory trade restrictions.

In 2023, the total volume of cargo through Ganqimaodu, the largest road border crossing on the China-Mongolia border, rose 98.54 percent year on year to 37.86 million tons, reaching a record high since the opening of the crossing.

According to Qin Ruiqiang, deputy head of the management committee of this border crossing point, last year Ganqimaodu continued to promote intelligent customs clearance, form special corridors for cross-border unmanned vehicles and a special customs control zone, and significantly improved the efficiency of customs clearance.

In 2023, more than 40 million yuan (about US$5.65 million) of funding was allocated to widen the existing roads at the border crossing, doubling the efficiency of customs clearance. In 2023, more than 40 million yuan (about US$5.65 million) of funding was allocated to expand the available roads at the border crossing, doubling customs clearance capacity and further improving traffic safety, he said.

The Ganqimaodu border crossing point, located in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is the country's main energy import channel and an important hub of the China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor.

MSC has announced it will implement a Panama Canal Surcharge (PCS) of US$297 / container for cargo from Adia to the Caribbean transiting the Panama Canal.

The new surcharge will be effective from 15 December.

"During the second quarter of 2023, the Panama Canal Authority decided to reduce the draft from 14.94 to 13.41. Despite several measures to conserve water taken over the last months, the lack of precipitation in the area is affecting the water level of the Panama Canal. Consequently, the Panama Canal Authority has recently confirmed further restrictions regarding the number of vessels crossing the canal," said MSC in a statement.

The company noted that these restrictions, combined with the increase of the Canal Tariff implemented earlier this year, are having a direct impact on overall MSC operations costs.

A.P. Moller – Maersk has decided to formally wind down its operations in Syria effective from 1 December 2023.

"This means we will no longer offer shipments to or from any destinations in Syria," confirmed the company in a statement.

Consequently, bookings to/from Syria will no longer be accepted from 1 December and Maersk vessels will no longer call Syrian ports.

The final Maersk vessel to call Syria will be Maersk Narmada on 28 November.

"Honouring our existing commitments, we will ensure that all bookings to/from Syria with containers already assigned will be facilitated. All customers impacted by this announcement will be contacted individually to discuss delivery details," said the Danish shipping company in its announcement.

Maersk explained that with Syria being a highly sanctioned country, business activity has been very restricted, and the company has conducted limited operations in Syria in compliance with international sanctions.

"This has recently become even more challenging logistically, and we have therefore made the decision to close our operations down completely," noted Maersk.