due to weak global demand and economic downturn, major indexes show that freight rates continue to decline. The latest Shanghai Container Freight Index (SCFI) index fell 24.53 points to 906.55 points, a weekly drop of 2.63%, and has fallen for 9 consecutive weeks. The latest edition of the Deluri World Container Freight Index (WCI) also fell 3 per cent. In the past week, due to cabin reduction factors, some markets of the European line experienced cabin explosion. Shipping companies expect to increase freight rates on April 1. The industry estimates that each large box will increase by up to US $200, but it remains to be seen whether it will succeed.
According to the latest SCFI data of the, the freight rate of the Shanghai-Europe route, which fell below the 1,000 yuan mark, began to show a stop signal, at US $865/TEU, which was the same as the previous week; the freight rate of the Mediterranean route was US $1589/TEU, which was lower than the previous week. 11 US dollars, a slight drop of 0.68%.
large freight forwarding companies pointed out that at present, in addition to the European line, some markets in the United States and Mexico bend areas, including Houston, Mobile, Kansas, etc., have cabin explosion phenomenon. Shipping companies have plans to increase prices in April, but whether they can succeed or not depends on the reduction of shifts and the growth of cargo load of subsequent shipping companies.
what worries the industry at present is that the US-East route is beginning to make up for the decline. Freight rates from the Far East to the United States and the West were US $1163/FEU, down US $37, or 3.08 per cent, and US $2194 per box in the East, down US $127, or 5.47 per cent. Industry insiders said that the US-West freight rate is basically the end, the US-East freight rate and pre-epidemic compared to there is still room for decline.
South American Line (Santos): The lack of momentum for further growth in transport demand has led to a weakening of supply and demand fundamentals, and freight rates have been on a downward trend recently. The basic port freight rate from Shanghai to South America was US $1378/TEU, down US $104, or 7.02 per cent.
Persian Gulf route: the recent performance of the transport market is relatively sluggish, the growth of transport demand is weak, the relationship between supply and demand is not good, and the market freight rate continues to fall. The Shanghai-Persian Gulf base port market was $878/TEU, down 9.0 per cent from the previous period.
Australia-New Zealand route: the local market's demand for all kinds of materials has been hovering at a low level after the long holiday, the recovery of transportation demand is slow, the fundamentals of supply and demand are weak, and the market freight rate continues to adjust. The Shanghai-ANZ basic port freight rate was US $280/TEU, down 16.2% from the previous period.
In terms of near-ocean lines, the Far East to Japan's Kansai and Kanto were the same as the previous week. The freight rate from the Far East to Southeast Asia (Singapore) is US $177 per case, up US $3 or 1.69 from the previous week. As for the Far East to South Korea, it fell US $2 from the previous week.
According to the latest data released by the Shanghai Airlines Exchange on March 10, the Shanghai Export Container Freight Index (SCFI) fell 24.53 points to 906.55 points last week, a weekly decline of 2.63%. Not only did it show nine consecutive declines, but it was also below the thousand-point mark for five consecutive weeks, and the decline was significantly larger than the 1.65% in the previous week.
People in the industry pointed out that the transportation companies actively adjusted their transportation capacity, and the transportation momentum of Asian factories began to increase slightly after the year. By the end of March, many container ships on the European line had already been full, which helped to stabilize the freight rate. However, the inflation pressure in the United States is high, retailers and importers are conservative in purchasing goods, and the relatively high-grade freight rate on the eastern line of the United States has attracted ships from all over the world, resulting in a supplementary drop in the freight rate on the eastern line of the United States, which expanded last week.
at the same time as the spot freight rate has plunged, the U.S. line's new-year-old freight rate is said to have been cut to last year's 1/3, but some shipping companies have changed the annual contract to a quarterly or half-year contract to reduce the impact of freight rates. In addition, the recent frenzied reduction of shipping companies and the softening of the price-cutting attitude of cargo owners will also help ease the pressure on freight rates.
experts said that this year's freight rate is expected to fluctuate at a low level. At present, the freight rate has fallen to about the cost price of the shipping company, and the room for further decline should be limited. However, the time point of the bottom is indeed longer than expected.
In spite of this, experts also remind that the demand side is still the fatal injury to the shipping market. Even if the elimination of old ships is accelerated, the supply side is no longer in the port and a large number of new ships are delivered and operated, resulting in a surge in global capacity of more than 20%.
Source of: Ningbo Shipping