Hapag-Lloyd launches AMX and ASX services to strengthen Asia-Latin America trade, offering direct routes for shippers starting next year.
Hapag-Lloyd announced on November 4 via its official website the launch of two independently operated services on the Asia-Latin America trade lane: the AMX, connecting Mexico and the West Coast of Latin America, and the ASX, serving the East Coast of South America. The company stated that the move is intended to further strengthen its market presence on the Asia-Latin America corridor. Both services will call directly at Qingdao, offering shippers in northern China a direct routing option to Latin America destinations beginning next year.
The AMX rotation is scheduled as follows: Ningbo - Qingdao - Busan - Ensenada - Manzanillo - Lazaro Cardenas. The service calls directly at three Mexican ports, with onward connectivity to other West Coast Latin America destinations via transshipment through Mexico. The official announcement noted that specific sailing schedules will be published 'within the coming days'; space allocation planning can only be confirmed once sailings are fixed, and freight forwarders are advised to monitor that timeline closely.
The ASX rotation is scheduled as follows: Qingdao - Ningbo - Shekou - Tanjung Pelepas - Santos - Itajai - Rio Grande - Paranagua - Santos - Singapore - Qingdao. Montevideo, Uruguay, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, fall outside the mainline direct call scope and will be served via a feeder connection through Rio Grande—an arrangement the announcement explicitly describes as the service's 'River Plate connectivity' provision. The first sailing date, schedule, booking arrangements, and the transition plan for 'cargo migrating from AS2' are all to be communicated separately prior to service commencement.
Both the AMX and ASX include a direct call at Qingdao. Cargo moving from northern China to Latin America has historically required southbound feeder connections or transshipment; from next year, both new services will provide direct call options. For exporters based in Shandong and the surrounding hinterland, direct calls reduce inland consolidation and transshipment steps, improving schedule reliability and predictability on Latin America-bound shipments.
Hapag-Lloyd has framed the ASX in relation to the existing AS2 service, though the announcement stops short of confirming that ASX is a direct replacement for AS2 or disclosing a transition plan. Customers holding long-term contracts or bookings on the East Coast South America trade for the second quarter of 2027 and beyond should not assume continuity between the new and existing services without formal confirmation. Shippers are advised to await the carrier's official transition notification and to review contract terms covering service changes, vessel substitution, and transshipment liability accordingly. By way of context, Hapag-Lloyd currently operates a joint Asia-East Coast South America service with MSC and ONE; both MSC and ONE have announced independent operations from April 2027. The convergence of these three independent launches within the same window signals a broader restructuring of East Coast South America capacity, the full contours of which will become clearer as individual carriers publish their respective schedules. Vessel names and deployed capacity for both new services have not yet been disclosed.
