Without trucks, nothing works in Germany: more than half of all imports and exports to and from EU countries reach Germany by road, mostly by truck. The situation is different for the exchange of goods with non-EU countries. Here, shipping is the mode of choice, accounting for 60%. In total, 395 mn t of goods were imported into Germany in the first eight months of 2022. Around 250 mn t left the country as exports.

According to the Germany’s Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), more than 60% of imports came from other EU countries. Conversely, 75% of German exports remained within the EU, while the rest of the goods were exported to non-EU countries.

Moving on to shipping: On 1 January 2023, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) will introduce a rating system called Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII). This will be used to assess the efficiency of cargo ships, among others, based on their CO₂ emissions. The world’s largest container ship operator, MSC, believes it is possible that this could result in the premature decommissioning of 7-10% of all container ships. This is because the barges blow too many greenhouse gases into the air compared to the volume they transport. The new system will mean that once again it will be small shipping companies that will be left out in the cold. After all, retrofitting cargo ships to a more acceptable environmental standard is, if at all possible, as time-consuming as it is expensive.

A study shows how many ships would be affected by the new regulation, which in the worst case would result in decommissioning: according to the study, 92% of all container ship fleets, 86% of bulk carriers, 74% of all tankers and 80% of gas tankers would have to be modified and retrofitted to achieve energy efficiency class A, B or C, which would allow them to continue operating.

And now on to freight rates: to counteract a further drop in prices, shipping companies again increased the proportion of empty transports on the routes from Asia to Europe by almost 10%. Nevertheless, prices crumbled across the board. In the week from 31 October to 6 November, for example, the transport of a 40-foot container (FEU) from China to the US West Coast cost a whopping 12% less than in the previous week, at USD 2,500 (EUR 2,561). From China to the US East Coast, on the other hand, it remained at USD 5,900.

The route from China to Northern Europe was down 10% on the previous week at USD 5,000. The return fare remained unchanged at USD 700. The price for transport from China to Southern Europe also dropped by 3.8% to USD 5,300. The rate for the reverse route, on the other hand, did not change at USD 1,000. Prices for FEU from North America to Northern Europe and vice versa also remained unchanged: westbound went for USD 7,300 and eastbound for USD 1,000.