According to foreign media reports, in December of this year, Maersk Line will withdraw from the Transpacific Ocean Pricing Agreement (TSA).

TSA is a cooperative coalition agreement formed by liner companies that operate shipping businesses between the United States and Asia. With the approval of the government, members of the TSA can discuss the market conditions and set a reference freight rate, but the members do not have a natural restraint. Forces, members are free to decide whether to adopt or not.

However, Maersk Line believes that since March 2016, liner companies have ceased to be active in the tariff organization and therefore no longer wish to participate. Maersk Line also said that it will withdraw from the other four similar tariff organizations involved in the Asian market, but did not disclose more details.

Maersk Line has been a member of the tariff organization since the beginning of 1989 and only briefly withdrew from 2004-2009. In the good shipping market, almost all major liner companies have joined the TSA. However, starting from 2016, shipping companies including COSCON and CSCL, which have withdrawn from the integration, and Hanjin Shipping withdrew due to bankruptcy, as well as shipping companies such as Japan Post, Kawasaki Steamboat, and Star Shipping, have all withdrawn from the organization.

According to the Shanghai Export Container Freight Index (SCFI), freight rates in the container shipping market rose in early 2017, releasing positive signals to the market. However, recent major market freight rates have rapidly declined, especially in the trans-Pacific market. According to Alphaliner's statistics, all major trading routes have recently dropped to a 12-month low. At present, the most severely impacted is the trans-Pacific route. From China to the west coast of the United States, the freight rate has dropped to around US$1,000/FEU, which is only half of a year ago. The same situation also appeared in the route from China to the US East Coast. The freight rate dropped from US$3,600/FEU in January this year to the current US$1,800/FEU. Alphaliner expects that with the delivery of new ships in the coming months, freight rates may further decline.