Due to the lack of cargo volume support after the year, the latest Shanghai Container Freight Index (SCFI) has increased by 6 in the latest week2%, down to 197912 o'clock. Affected by the simultaneous decline of the four major routes in Europe and the United States, the freight index fell below the 2,000-point mark and the decline expanded, and it has been for three consecutive weeks**. Specifically, the freight rates of the West and Europe routes fell by nearly 10%, while the freight rates of the East and Mediterranean routes fell by 5% and 6% respectively.
According to market rumors, the decline in freight rates on the US-West route has expanded because of the 10,000 TEU overtime ships put into the market. In addition, some shipping companies have launched special rates on highly competitive routes, which is one of the reasons for the US line freight rates.
Freight forwarding industry insiders said that affected by the Spring Festival holiday, the decline in freight rates from late February to March is expected, and the resumption rate after mid-March will be an important observation point. If freight rates cannot be maintained, then there will be even greater challenges this year.
Especially considering that a record number of new shipyards will be put on the market this year, of which up to 60%, or about 2 million TEUs, will be delivered in the first half of the year. This will lead to oversupply of capacity and become the biggest challenge for shipping companies. In addition to relying on the reduction and merger of shifts to support freight rates, it is also necessary to pay close attention to the recovery and recovery speed of the demand side in Europe and the United States.
With the response of the world's well-known shipping companies to the Red Sea problem, the ship dispatch has adopted the strategy of reducing shifts**, which makes the freight rate still be well supported in the off-season. Currently, the average amount reported to customers in March is about $1,000 per FEU compared to February. Specifically, the rate from the Far East to the West Coast has dropped to $4,000 per feu, while the rate from the Far East to the East has dropped to $5,500 per feu.
Maersk, the world's second-largest shipping company, is expected to continue the disruption of the Red Sea route until the second half of this year. This means that the ** chain transit time for future shipments will become longer, which can lead to significant congestion and delays for goods destined for Europe and the East Coast of the United States. To this end, Maersk has once again called on global business owners to be prepared for increased costs.
The National Retail Federation (NRF) expects U.S. imports to increase by 5% in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year3%。According to the latest ** from the SCFI:
The freight rate from Shanghai to the West of the United States is $4262 FEU, which is $429 from last week, a decrease of 915%；
The freight rate from Shanghai to the East of the United States is $5,747 FEU, $380 more than last week, a decrease of 62%。
The freight rate from Shanghai to Europe was $2277 TEU, $231 from last week, a decrease of 499%；
The freight rate of the Shanghai to Mediterranean line was 3292 US dollars TEU, which was 173 US dollars from last week, a decrease of 921%。