Cold Chain Market Report
Special Report
Specialized reefer ships hold less than 3 % of global reefer capacity . Shutterstock . com lines temporarily blank some reefer services out of Ecuador at the end of October . It also caused all carriers to announce indefinite and hefty peak season surcharges for reefer exports from South America ’ s Pacific coast .
In the first quarter of 2025 , the mere threat of a container port strike in the US benefited the specialized mode . Cargo had already factored in the potential for a strike : The combination of a shortage of equipment , high reefer container rates and concerns about the consequences of a stoppage led to a surge in interest for specialized reefer capacity among Peruvian table grape shippers in December and the launch of Seatrade ’ s Andes Express Service .
There are other reasons to suggest that the first quarter will see strong demand for reefer capacity . The most significant is the return of Seatrade tonnage to Chile . Last season , which suffered Panama Canal transit restrictions and slot reservation difficulties , saw no Seatrade vessel in the Chilean trade to the US East Coast . This season , Seatrade is planning 11 to 15 sailings .
The question , therefore , is not whether the market will be strong in the first quarter but how high rates will climb . Given that such a large proportion of the reefer fleet is fixed into liner schedules and contracts of affreightment ( COAs ), operators are not going to reap the full benefit .
However , if it is true that the principal cause for the
www . joc . com shortage of reefer equipment is the increase in Chilean cherry and Peruvian grape and blueberry volumes , the short- to medium-term future for the mode is actually quite secure .
If the carriers cannot service the extraordinary peak in demand from South America ’ s Pacific coast in December and January without sacrificing customers in other trade lanes , the reefer mode can justify its existence and retain
The question is not whether the market will be strong in the first quarter but how high rates will climb .
its relevance . More importantly , it might just occur to the carriers that a genuine inability to cover all the bases on that coast in December through March could have a positive collateral impact on their contract rates for reefer globally for the full 12 months .
email : richard . bright @ spitfireuk . net
March 3 , 2025 | Journal of Commerce 41