HÖEGH Autoliners has increased short-term chartered capacity to meet contractual demands, support cargo strategy and mitigate reduced network efficiency.
The moves come against a continuing backdrop of uncertainty for global auto trades, thanks to the Trump administration effectively over-ruling previous tariff announcements regarding imported vehicles by striking new bi-lateral arrangements.
At the end of last week Höegh Autoliners reported that last month, i.e. July 2025, it transported 1.4 million cbm of cargo on prorated basis. Transported cargo in the last three months (May-July) was 4.1 million cbm.
Average prorated gross freight rate in July 2025 was USD 92.9 per cbm (-1.6% compared to average gross rate in the last three months). Average prorated gross freight rate in the last three months was USD 94.4 per cbm.
Average prorated net freight rate in July 2025 was USD 80.2 per cbm (-1.5% compared to average net rate the last three months). Average prorated net freight rate last three months was USD 81.4 per cbm.
High & heavy/Breakbulk share of prorated volumes carried in July was 20%. Last three months the prorated HH/BB share was also 20%.
Andreas Enger, CEO Höegh Autoliners, said the company continued to see a resilient market providing stable cargo volumes and rates, however with growing trade imbalances. It has responded by taking the measures outlined above.
Trump introduced a 25% levy on all foreign-made vehicles imported to the USA on 3 April, but made some concessions to comply with a free trade agreement covering the US, Canada and Mexico. The 25% also covered auto parts but blowback from US manufacturers saw offsets introduced.
Further, he discounted separately-announced tariffs on imported steel and aluminium to give car makers relief but the industry claims it still faces many billions of dollars in additional costs. Bloomberg reports that 50% of vehicles sold in the USA are imported and no car manufactured there is 100% of domestic origin; most have 50-60% overseas-derived components.
Subsequently, Trump has struck trade deals that cut the 25% tariff on vehicles from source countries/zones: 15% for the European Union, Japan and South Korea, and 10% for the UK (for the first 100,000 imports).
Ford has estimated the tariffs have opened up a USD 5,000 gap between the most popular domestic and imported medium-sized SUVs.
Bloomberg has commented that realising Trump’s ambition to revive US-based auto manufacturing “rests on a major overhaul of the globally integrated supply chains the auto industry has spent decades fine-tuning”.
Analysts have suggested the short- and longer-term effect will be to curtail the PCTC sector’s stellar growth of the last decade.