FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
GENERAL
1. Why was BoxTradeIntelligence established?
BoxTradeIntelligence was established to provide the wider container industry with access to relevant market analysis of Supply and Demand together - calculated holistically, using the most detailed trade data available together with fleet and vessel cost information. The service is designed to empower the smaller users by enabling access to summary information not otherwise provided and to allow the large established companies an invaluable research and analytical resource.
2. Has MDS Transmodal previously been involved in the container shipping data service industry?
MDS Transmodal has been a provider of Supply side information for 25 years and Demand trade data for 24 years. The Demand trade data was initially only available for the UK, but was constantly expanded until it became truly global from 1996 onwards. From the very early days MDS Transmodal established a methodology for converting Demand trade tonnes into maritime TEU and has offered this as a Demand data service for many years. Presently MDS Transmodal publishes leading trade route indicators every month in the Containerisation International magazine.
DATA: DEMAND
3. How many countries do you provide Demand data for?
We provide loaded maritime TEU data for 240 countries
4. For how many commodities can you provide data?
We provide loaded maritime TEU data for all 62 SITC (Standard International Trade Classification) 2 digit commodities, with a further drill down available to 3,000 SITC 5 digit commodities.
5. What is the source of your Demand data?
Sourced from our World Cargo Database (WCD), which holds worldwide containerised cargo from 1996 to the present for 240 countries and 3,000 commodities. The WCD is generated by gathering quarterly trade data (tonnes) from most of the major economies of the world (each EU27 country separately, USA, Canada, China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Norway, Switzerland, South Africa, Hong Kong, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Indonesia, Australia, Mexico, Philippines, Russia, Turkey, Thailand and India). This covers over 95% of unitised world trade (i.e. to or from one of these countries). For trade between other countries, data from the UN is used, boosting our global coverage of unitised world trade to 99.9%.
6. How is the original Demand data converted into maritime TEUs?
The WCD tonnage data is translated into unitised tonnes and then into loaded maritime TEU using various lookup tables based on commodity, volume and the origin and destination countries. For ‘backhaul' trades, the propensity of certain commodities to travel in containers is boosted.
7. For what periods can you provide Demand forecasts?
We can offer quarterly Demand WCD forecasts for any period. For standard reports we forecast 2 to 5 years out, but forecasts are available for much longer periods upon request.
8. To what level of detail do you forecast?
The WCD forecasts are at a country to country by SITC 5 digit commodity level. Depending on the reports required, they are available at 5 or 2 digit level.
9. Can you provide historical data?
Yes, we can provide Demand data back to the mid 1990's.
DATA: SUPPLY
10. What is the source of your Supply Data?Sourced from our Containership Databank, which holds 10,000 container carrying capable ships, their details and deployments. This Databank has been developed since the mid 1980's and has since been used by major players in the container shipping industry.
11. What kind of capacity is used in the Supply data?We have specifically chosen to use Nominal Capacity rather than 14t Capacity to provide an industrial overview. This eliminates the variable that ships will have different carrying capacities on different routes due to operational considerations.
12. What other characteristics are recorded in the Supply data?We record the usual ship characteristics like names and former names, tonnages, dimensions, engine power, speed etc. We also record all ownership details, including beneficial ownerships and charters. In addition deployment details are maintained and constantly updated, as well as cost details where publicly known (new build price, charter rates and the like).
13. Are you able to make forecasts for the Supply data?We record all newbuild- and demolition orders and are therefore able to make short term forecast on Supply data. For longer term forecast we will be looking at combinations of available newbuild- and demolition orders, historical trends and demand predictions.
14. What is Nominal capacity?Total capacity of the ship in TEU slots. These are the maximum available container slots on a ship. These cannot always be fully used, due to operational constraints and individual ship operator's internal policies.
15. What is the importance of utilisation figures?
The ratio of Demand to Supply for a given combination of 19 trading regions on one Trade Lane by direction. It is important to determine the capacity utilisation on the dominant and non-dominant legs, which in turn indicates the balance of trade and whether the assets (ships) are being efficiently utilised. Please note that as we have used Nominal Capacity, our utilisations may appear lower than other reported levels. Nominal Capacities are, however widely available. By using Nominal Capacities we can provide a more accurate picture of changes in utilisations over time - hence examining the trend is the key.
16. What elements are included in the service costs and how are they calculated?All our calculations are based on port-port movements, hence we include ships costs based on Time Charter Equivalent (TCE) daily rates, which reflect the ratio between owned and chartered tonnage. Port- and canal costs are based on the actual ship deployments. Bunker costs are based on the average bunker costs in the ship's deployment areas. Container handlings are based on the regions where they take place; container imbalances and associated handling costs are taken into account. Container costs are based on a combination of owned and leased equipment, including elements for maintenance & repairs and in-land dwell times. Overheads (HQ- and agent elements) are based on cargo volumes through the individual regions.
17. Can you provide historical data?
Yes, we can provide Supply data back to the mid 1980's.
DATA: TRADE LANE PERFORMANCE AND PROFITABILITY
18. Which countries are included in the region aggregations?Please click here for an overview of the available countries, sub regions and main regions.
19. How many Trade Lanes are there?We provide data for both directions on 20 Trade Lanes:
Asia - Europe
Europe - Africa
Europe - AustralAsia
Europe - Latin America
Europe - Middle East/Gulf/Indian Sub Continent
Asia - Africa
Asia - Australasia
Asia - Latin America
Asia - Middle East/Gulf/Indian Sub Continent
Latin America - Africa
Latin America - AustralAsia
Latin America - Middle East/Gulf/Indian Sub Continent
Middle East/Gulf/Indian Sub Continent - Africa
Middle East/Gulf/Indian Sub Continent - AustralAsia
North America - Africa
North America - Latin America
North America - AustralAsia
North America - Middle East/Gulf/Indian Sub Continent
Europe - North America (Trans Atlantic)
Asia - North America (Trans Pacific)
20. What are these Trade Lanes based upon?These Trade Lanes are based on clusters of regions, which are connected by the usual service patterns of the majority of shipping services.
21. What elements are included in the revenue rates?Our revenue rates are all-in port to port, which includes ocean freight, THC (Terminal Handling Charges), CAF (Currency Adjustment Factor), BAF (Bunker Adjustment Factor), PSS (Peak Season Surcharges), etc... We are not yet offering coverage on intermodal rates & costs.
22. Where do your revenue rates originate?Our port to port spot rates are from a variety of primary and public sources. We further identify where the contract freight levels are and the proportion of cargo which moves on spot and contract levels to arrive at an average blended revenue rate.
23. Can you provide country-to-country revenue rates?We have not released country-to-country revenue rates yet, although it is a product under development. As with all of our new products, we are prioritizing our development based on market feedback and popularity.
24. Can you provide per container revenue rates (i.e. not just per TEU)?
Our primary focus has been on the production of Trade Lane level P&L on a per TEU basis, however if it is something our customers want to see we can prioritize the development of this in our new product pipeline.
25. What principles do you use to calculate utilisation figures?Through a comprehensive analytical process, we have identified cargo trading patterns for 19 trading regions, including transhipment and wayport flows and have matched this to the containership services. Through this process we can not only illustrate where the container ships are deployed, but also how container lines utilise that capacity to service the cargo demand.
26. How do you deal with transshipment?Where there is insufficient direct supply between two regions to satisfy demand, the surplus demand is allocated to the most economic indirect routing available. Handling at the intermediary port(s) is based on transshipment rates rather than the full inland rates.
27. How can I use the Trade Lane reports in practice?The Trade Lane reports provide deep insight into the performances and profitability of the 20 global Trade Lanes. Container lines can benchmark their performance against an independent and impartial information set. Customers of container lines have found the information greatly assists in their freight negotiations. Bankers, lenders and observers of the industry have, for the first time, an independent information set providing a holistic view of the performance of the industry.
TECHNICAL
28. Why does the website not work with my browser?Our website has been optimised for Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer(IE) 7 and above. Using earlier versions of IE will not only display the website incorrectly, but will also be unable to display some of the content, without the user being aware of the lack of content.
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PAYMENT
29. What are your Terms & Conditions?Our Terms & Conditions can be found here
30. Are payments through your website secure?All payments are taken through Sage Pay, a reliable and secure Payment Service Provider (PSP). BoxTradeIntelligence does not store or retain your payment details.
31. Can I be invoiced for my purchase?Our preferred payment method is through the check out method on our website, through secure payment using Sage Pay. However, we do appreciate that for larger invoices one might want to be invoiced. We are flexible to decide on this case-by-case. You can either call or e-mail us to discuss your specific requirements.
32. How much does a report cost? Is it only on a subscription basis?Reports can be obtained through the website and can be one-off reports or subscription based. The costs are mentioned in the ‘Products' section of our website. Please call or e-mail us, should your specific requirement(s) not be listed.