Global Shipping Market Update: June 2026

Global shipping has experienced significant disruption and uncertainty since the onset of the Middle East conflict in March 2026.

Although fuel surcharges have eased slightly in recent weeks, market conditions remain highly volatile and overall consumer confidence continues to be subdued. As a result, global shipping volumes are being impacted.

The China–Australia freight market remains under pressure, with freight rates continuing to rise due to strong demand, limited vessel capacity, ongoing Red Sea disruptions, port congestion and carrier capacity controls. This shortage of available space has been further intensified by carriers redeploying vessels to other higher-yielding trade lanes, resulting in booking backlogs and cargo rollovers across the market.

Significant service disruptions are expected on routes from Shenzhen, Shanghai and Qingdao into the Australian market due to a reduction in available services.

On a positive note, with the launch of Maersk’s new Qilin service in late July and the restart of the A3X service by COSCO/OOCL/ANL, additional

Overall, market conditions remain extremely tight and further rate increases are anticipated into July.