THE Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) said demand from China to the US west coast had been "significantly reduced" and it would suspend an entire service in response, reported London's Loadstar,
The carrier, now rated as the biggest in the world, said that, with immediate effect, it would suspend bookings for its transpacific Sequoia service, operated within the 2M Alliance with Maersk's TP3 loop, which would be merged into the 2M's Jaguar/TP2 loop.
This follows the cancellation of Matson's China-California Express (CCX) service and of suspensions of CU Lines and Shanghai Jin Jiang Shipping's joint TPX service and CMA CGM's Golden Gate Bridge loop.
Paris-based consultancy Alphaliner said a combination of the Golden Week holiday in the first week of October and "overall bearish developments on the cargo front" meant carriers would be making additional capacity cuts in the coming weeks.
"These cuts will also be needed to prevent spot ocean freight rates from sinking further," Alphaliner said.
Elsewhere, MSC's 2M partner, Maersk, said in its September Asia-Pacific market update container shipping was "facing strong headwinds amid an increasingly pessimistic economic outlook".
Alphaliner said CMA CGM was "believed to be closing" its Asia-US west coast Golden Gate Bridge service, which calls at Taiwan and China deploying seven vessels of 5,000 and 11,000 TEU.
The 9,415-TEU CMA CGM Medea, it said, was now on its final voyage on the service, arriving in Shanghai on November 5.
"Recent figures show regional container growth has declined in most major areas, while container rates have slumped," said Alphaliner.
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