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HAPAG-LLOYD: 30% OF CHINA’S US-BOUND SHIPMENTS CANCELED
April 23, 2025
Customers of Hapag-Lloyd have scrapped 30% of their shipments from China to the United States as trade tensions between the world's two largest economies intensify, according to Reuters.
Citing a spokesperson for the carrier, the report noted a surge in demand for shipments from Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam instead.
The U.S. and China remain locked in a trade conflict, with each side implementing increasing tariffs against each other in recent months: 145% U.S. duties on Chinese goods and 125% Chinese duties on U.S. goods. These shifting trade dynamics are starting to disrupt port operations globally.
Meanwhile, the Hapag-Lloyd spokesperson noted that as trade tensions flare up, the company has been deploying smaller vessels on some U.S.-bound routes while maintaining the same number of voyages.
Separately, the Washington Post reported that, despite rising demand in markets outside China, overall volume remains lower by comparison. "We see these bookings rising significantly. But the market is smaller than the Chinese one, so the increase in South East Asia cannot compensate for the cancellations from China," it said, also citing a Hapag-Lloyd spokesperson.
Hapag-Lloyd previously warned of a potential impact on its 2025 earnings forecast.
"The economic and geopolitical environment remains fragile," Rolf Habben Jansen, chief executive of Hapag-Lloyd, said. "In this context, we anticipate earnings in 2025 to be lower than in 2024," he added.
