shipping prices

A practical walk-through with a worked example — factory price, ocean freight, duties and fees, insurance, plus the line items first-time importers routinely miss (consolidation, compliance, the [...]

On Sunday (June 14th), President Trump announced a peace deal with Iran via a Truth Social post: The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete. Congratulations to all! I hereby fully [...]

Last week, we blogged on the opening of the Hormuz Strait, but with the two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran feeling tenuous and Iran warning of possible mines in the water and [...]

This is a guest post by Jake Herrera. During each year, shipping volume swings wildly. It only takes weeks for freight availability to go from comfortable to tight. This often happens when [...]

Oil Prices Outlook Oil has always been a large factor in international shipping costs. The Iran War, with the closure of the Straight of Hormuz, effectively cut off shipping access through the [...]

Competition on the waters of international shipping looks to be shrinking again as the world’s fifth-largest ocean freight carrier, Hapag-Lloyd, made a buyout deal yesterday to acquire the [...]

You can put a fork in it; international shipping’s peak season is done. And despite a little freight rate increase last week, it’s been done. At least on the ocean freight side. Air [...]

Next month, large fees on Chinese-built ships calling on U.S. ports goes into effect. They’re not going to be as enormous as U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer initially [...]

On Friday, President Trump put pressure on the European Union (EU). With trade deal discussions apparently going nowhere, he threatened a 50% tariff on EU goods starting June 1st. It sparked [...]

In the wake of surging shipping demand from China to the U.S., Chinese ports are experiencing congestion. That should push transpacific freight rates, which are already climbing fast, to go even [...]

This is a guest post by Victor Kowalski. Freight. That one word – simple, sturdy, even a little old-fashioned – belies a world of complexity that’s likely keeping your average logistic manager [...]

Those importing from Asia, China in particular, will see a dip in capacity from carriers here in February, according to maritime intelligence company eeSea. Blame is falling on carrier alliance [...]

This is a guest post by Dylan Jacobson. Container ships are the unsung heroes of global trade, transforming the movement of goods worldwide. Their role is vital, as these colossal vessels serve [...]

This is a guest post by Robin Kix. [NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: This post isn't necessarily about international shipping as Universal Cargo's blog is normally focused, even though international [...]

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg went on a press tour, where he talked about the port congestion we're seeing right now. The Biden Administration has been talking about the ports and the [...]

Today we continue our examination of freight rates and the outlook of the international shipping industry for 2021. Part 1 of this series looked at the high freight rate prices the international [...]

This is a guest post by Paul Zhang. The epidemic made the entirety of 2020 beyond all expectations. Global trade stirred by the "black swan" of the epidemic ushered in a great recession and fell [...]

This blog will get into what's happening with freight rates, cargo volume behavior, and implications those have for shippers through the rest of the year and into 2021. But first – and I promise [...]

As 2019 draws to a close, a ton of things are happening in international shipping. You would think with the last three blogs getting into IMO 2020, Incoterm changes with Incoterms 2020, and the [...]

Maersk predicted, a couple years ago, that carrier competition would shrink to just 3 global companies. Of course, Maersk is at the top of the list of carriers expected to be left if its [...]