Drewry Maritime reports that, “Since the huge overnight success of the March 2012 GRIs (general rate increases) implemented by shipping lines to bring rate levels back above break-even, there have been a further seven attempts to lift rates — equating to a total of around $2,800-$3,000 per FEU (forty-foot-equivalent unit) on the Asia-to-North Europe trade.”

During the period, average headhaul freight rates actually declined from about $2,700 in early March to $2,400 as of early January 2013, said Drewry.

While this is not a disaster for the carriers, Drewry believes it proves a fundamental weakness in the market compounded by low volumes on the back of a non-existent peak season in 2012.

This, coupled with a marked reluctance by carriers to pull enough capacity — particularly in the Asia-Mediterranean trade — means average headhaul load factors remained in the 75 percent to 85 percent range for most of the second half of 2012. The strategy of missing sailings has proven to be insufficient to lift freight rates for any sustainable period, the Drewry report continued.

With another 40 ships of at least 10,000 TEU (twenty-foot-equivalent units) due for delivery in 2013, carriers will have a very difficult time deploying them without doing further damage to the supply/demand balance. Operational alliances across virtually all global trade lanes will certainly increase.

“The emphasis on this tactic (missed sailings) will only lead to severe volatility in the spot market with carriers reacting to weaknesses on a temporary basis, with the GRIs essentially being used to prohibit further rate erosion, rather than advancing them by any sustainable margin,” said Neil Dekker, Drewry’s head of container research.

The latest indications from the market suggest load factors from Asia to North Europe and the Mediterranean are higher — helped by the usual pre-Chinese New Year cargo spike. The acid test will be how long any carrier rate successes last beyond the middle of February when volumes traditionally weaken.

 On a more optimistic note, Drewry is forecasting global demand to increase by 4.6 percent in 2013. The group attached several caveats to that forecast: Considerably faster capacity growth at the trade route level will severely challenge carriers and even the ability of the fast growing north-south trades (such as Asia to Latin America) to prop up the deficiencies elsewhere is now being questioned. It cannot be ignored that the headhaul compound annual growth rate of the three core east-west trade lanes in the 2008-12 period has been only 0.4 percent.