GRAND China Shipping (GCS) is to withdraw from the transpacific trade due to unfavourable market conditions and will suspend its Super Pacific Express (SPX), which connects Shenzhen-Yantian, Xiamen, Ningbo and Shanghai to Long Beach, using five ships and offering a weekly capacity of 2,774 TEU.

The last eastbound sailing will be provided by the Cape Madrid, departing Shanghai on November 10, according to Alphaliner.

Grand China Shipping will then confine itself to intra-Asia services. The decision to close the SPX comes seven months after the carrier launched transpacific operations following the suspension of GCS' second transpacific string in August, part of a nine-ship butterfly loop that had offered a combined weekly capacity of 5,520 TEU.

GCS inaugurated its independent transpacific service in April (Super Pacific Express - SPX), using five 2,700 to 2,900-TEU ships. The inaugural SPX connected Hong Kong, Shenzhen-Yantian, Ningbo and Shanghai-Waigaoqiao to Long Beach. This service was split into two new loops in May, with one loop focusing on Central China (SPX) and the other on South China (Pearl River Delta-Pacific Express - PPX), with five ships in the 2,500 to 2,800 TEU range on each loop. Calls at Xiamen, Qingdao, Busan and Oakland were added as a result of the additional loop.

In July, the SPX and PPX were connected together to form a butterfly pattern, calling at Xiamen, Hong Kong, Shenzhen-Yantian, Long Beach, Oakland, Qingdao, Ningbo, Shanghai, Busan, Long Beach, Oakland and back to Xiamen.

The butterfly service was operated with nine ships averaging 2,700 TEU each, alternating between the two loops, compared to 10 ships that were used for the two separate loops. Low load factors and a weak peak-season demand on the transpacific route forced GCS to close one of the loops in August. Escalating losses have now forced GCS to suspend its US operations entirely.