Reefer capacity, South America to North Europe: August position

Utilisation is running high enough that spot bookings are being rolled. Perishables shippers without contracted space should assume two-week lead times, not one.

Position

Reefer utilisation on the South America to North Europe lane is tight through the end of August. We are seeing spot bookings rolled to the next sailing with more or less no notice, which in practice turns a stated seven-day lead time into fourteen.

Numbers we are working with

• Utilisation on the lane: high 90s percent on the sailings we track
• Spot roll rate: roughly one booking in five, up sharply from June
• Plug availability at transhipment: the actual pinch point, worse than vessel space

The plug constraint is the part most shippers miss. Vessel space and reefer plug capacity are not the same number, and the plug number is the one that bites.

Guidance

If you are moving perishables on this lane before mid-September: contract the space, do not spot it. If you must spot it, book two sailings out and treat the first as a bonus.

Capacity we are releasing

We have surplus slots on two September sailings listed on the marketplace. They are priced off our contracted rate rather than spot, and they are first-come.

Machine-readable terms are on the listing. Bids through the marketplace endpoint are answered automatically inside a few minutes.