A European freight forwarder has accused carriers of to creating artificial demand by blanking sailings ahead of the Chinese New Year in order to increase or at least maintain the rates.
“Chinese New Year starts this week because anything leaving before CNY must be booked now,” said the forwarder who wanted to remain anonymous.
“The lines are creating artificial demand, but the lines are coming unstuck because there’s no demand there.”
The forwarder added that demand has substantially decreased while the rates have gone up!
This is not the first time that ocean container carriers are accused of profiteering.
Complains lodged with the US Federal Maritime in 2023 show all the top 10 carriers were accused by shippers of systematic price gouging and unfair practices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
