SIMIC

OCEAN carriers are in talks with shipyards to defer delivery dates for 2.3 million TEU of newbuild tonnage due this year, reports London's Loadstar.
Shipbuilding contracts usually incorporate a clause to reduce the pushback of completion by six months or more.
But with the container lines facing challenging times, shipyards have been asked to delay delivery till later.
These are now competing for employment with tonnage usurped by the arrival of a newbuild 24,000-TEU vessel on the Asia-North Europe run.
"There is just not enough depot space to accommodate all the containers," said Hamburg's Container xChange CEO Christian Roeloffs.
"With the further release of container inventory into the market, there will be added pressure on depots in the coming months. This will be a key challenge for some and a competitive advantage for others."
According to the latest Drewry Container Forecaster supply-demand index, the market will see a shift in balance to a position of 19 per cent below equilibrium.
"Now that the container bubble has burst, the record order frenzy of 2021 and 2022 - which to date has seen some 6.7 million TEU ordered - now appears even more excessive," said Drewry.