Members of THE Alliance - Hapag-Lloyd, ONE, and Yang Ming - circulated last week their plan to enhance their Transpacific-West Coast Network in response to the market situation. The enhancement of the network – which is expected to start as of August - includes lower sailing speeds, cancelled voyages and reshuffling of port calls.

According to an advisory by Hapag-Lloyd, THE Alliance is suspending the PS5 service, which deploys seven vessels with an average weekly capacity of around 8600 TEU. In addition, it is enhancing the PS3, PS6 and PS7 services by adding port calls in Tokyo, Pusan and Shanghai.

Analysts believe the changes reflect the low demand on this trade. The Journal of Commerce (JOC) reveals that Q1-2023 Asian imports to the United States have been nearly 20% lower than the same period last year. One reason behind the lack of growth is the high US retail inventories, says shipping data provider Clarksons.

Based on statistics from Container Trade Statistics (CTS), analysts from Sea Intelligence found that import growth into North America was down -15.3% in May. “Exports have also remained in negative territory for the second consecutive month; however, the drop is certainly nowhere near as deep as for the imports,” says Sea Intelligence.

This year’s volumes of all cargo types moved from the Far East to North America dropped 28% in May compared to last year, according to CTS data. As for cargo moved from North America to the Far East, the drop was only 12.5%.