FURTHER evidence of container shipping’s recovery emerged this week, with a sharp jump in the transpacific element of the Shanghai Container Freight Index.

The China-US west coast component has climbed almost $300 per 40 ft box over the past fortnight to $2,395, while the rates to the US east coast are up by $333 per feu.

This latest signal that the rebound is gathering momentum follows a jump of almost 11% in Drewry’s Hong Kong-Los Angeles benchmark index in the space of just seven days, along with positive volume and price statistics from the European Liner Affairs Association.

Publication of trade data from several different sources that shows a continuing improvement in market conditions comes ahead of quarterly results from several leading containership owners and operators next week.

AP Moller-Maersk, which owns Maersk Line and Safmarine, and APL’s parent company Neptune Orient Lines, will post their latest earnings on Wednesday and Friday respectively. Also reporting the next week are containership owners Seaspan and Global Ship Lease.

This week, French line CMA CGM said it had returned to the black in the first quarter of 2010 after a massive $1.4bn loss in 2009, and now expects to produce significant full year profits.

The Pacific is the trade lane in most urgent need of freight rates increases as far as the lines are concerned. Over the past year, collective losses are thought to have skyrocketed to as much as $15bn on that trade alone as revenue plunged by around 30%.

Early indications suggest that lines will return to a breakeven position in 2010-2011 after successfully raising contract rates agreed for the coming 12 months in annual contracts that were renewed at the beginning of May.

Only a relatively small amount of cargo moves from Asia to the US on a spot basis, with rates likely to be somewhat different from those contained in annual contracts. Nevertheless, measures such as Drewry's benchmarks provide an indication of how the market is moving.

Although many trade lanes are back in to growth territory, the ELAA’s latest numbers show that the recovery is patchy.

While volumes continue to pick up in the Asia-Europe trades, some routes remain under pressure.

Imports from the Australia and Oceania regi0n to Europe fell more than 22% in March compared with the corresponding month of 2009, according to the ELAA, whereas liftings in the opposite direction were almost 10% higher. Imports to Europe from the Indian subc0ntinent and Middle East grew by nearly 20% in March. In contrast, exports from Europe to the subcontinent and Middle East were only up by 5.5% to 226,100 teu. Nevertheless, they are equal to half of the volume that moves from Europe to Asia on a monthly basis.

Mixed messages are also coming from the intra-Asia trades where southbound volumes were up by 23% in March, whereas northbound traffic only showed 3% growth.

Meanwhile, Israel Corp revealed this week that its liner shipping subsidiary Zim was hoping to raise between $150m and $190m from the sale 0f assets.

Negotiations are now being held with third parties about two transactions involving the disposal of Zim’s holdings in foreign companies that are engaged in shipping-related activities, but which do not own vessels