How will the shipping market be reshuffled in 2025?

Looking back at 2024, important waterways such as the Suez Canal, the Panama Canal and the Red Sea are increasingly disturbed by factors such as climate

change and geopolitical conflicts, becoming keywords for global maritime trade and causing a significant impact on the global supply chain. Faced with a
complex regional environment and uncertainty, shipping companies have to deal with the resulting cost increases and delays. Against this backdrop, the
Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) rose rapidly in the middle of this year and peaked in July.

Among them, the average SCFI freight rate from Shanghai to South America from January to July 2024 reached US$9,026 per TEU, the highest level since
September 2022, and the increase doubled.

The freight rate from Shanghai to South Africa rose nearly three times to US$5,426 per TEU; while the freight rate from Shanghai to West Africa rose 137% to
 US$5,563 per TEU, a new high since August 2022.

Although freight rates fell rapidly for three months afterwards, they began to rise again at the end of October.

By early November 2024, the space on major global routes was tight again, especially the surge in demand for space on the US route, which continued the peak
situation.

Against this background, many shipping companies, including Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, CMA CGM, HMM and ZIM, have announced freight adjustment plans
covering routes such as Europe, the Mediterranean, the Indian subcontinent and Africa.

Some industry insiders believe that with the arrival of the "shipping wave" before the Lunar New Year. By the beginning of 2025, freight rates on main routes
 such as the West Coast of the United States and Europe may rise.

In 2025, as the reorganization of the container shipping alliance approaches, the global shipping alliance will undergo major changes and form a new competitive
landscape.

Among them, the main changes include the dissolution of the 2M Alliance, the independent operation of Mediterranean Shipping (MSC), the establishment of
 new alliances and the continuous signing of cooperation agreements.

In addition, facing the tariff threats from Trump's return to the White House, the upcoming Spring Festival peak, and possible port strikes, the market will be
full of uncertainty.

In 2025, the global shipping market may usher in an unprecedented market competition.