China United Lines reenters booming transpacific trades

China United Lines (CUL) is making the most of the boom times suddenly being seen on the transpacific, with news from Linerlytica, a consultancy, that it reenter the tradelane with the launch of its Trans Pacific West Coast 1 (TP1) service calling at Shekou, Ningbo, Qingdao, Long Beach, Shekou from June 7, using up to six ships ranging in size from 2,400 to 2,800 teu.

Donald Trump, the American president, backed down on his trade war with China earlier this month, slashing tariffs by 115% for a 90-day period, leading to a huge box freight rate rise on the transpacific as shippers rush to meet the deadline.

Total capacity on the transpacific is set to rebound sharply in the coming four weeks, with Linerlytica reporting an average of over 560,000 teu departing from Asia to the US weekly compared to the week 19 low of 377,000 teu. Incumbent carriers have added extra loaders and resumed suspended services.