Rising demand boosts Europe – Sub-Saharan Africa utilisation

  • By Antonella Teodoro
  • •
  • 23 Jul, 2019

Demand on the southbound trade will outstrip supply through to the end of year, which should translate into higher freight rates

The Europe – Sub-Saharan Africa trade has seen significant capacity upgrades in recent years
MDS TRANSMODAL ESTIMATES THE OVERALL CAPACITY FOR THE EUROPE – SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA TRADE LANE HAS INCREASED BY 12% FROM 3.8M TEU TO 4.3M TEU BETWEEN 2014 AND 2019.

UTILISATION levels on the Europe – Sub-Saharan Africa trade lane will continue to improve into next year as demand continues to outstrip supply.

MDS Transmodal estimates average load factors on the southbound trade of around 66% in the second quarter of this year, tightening to 67% and 70%, respectively, in the following third and fourth quarters.

This should provide the route’s carriers with an opportunity to push for higher rates.

Load factors are expected to climb above 70% in 2020 if carriers limit the influx of new capacity.

Source: MDS Transmodal

First published on Lloyd's List website July 2019