News
The South Korea-China route traded 257,529 TEUs of containers in July, growing 7.1% year on year, according to statistics compiled by the Yellow Sea Liner Shipping Council (YSLSC).
Container movement between the two economies decreased 4.8% in the first quarter (January-March), impacted by the economic retaliation that China had brought against South Korea for the latter’s decision to introduce the THAAD missile defense system from the U.S. However, it turned upward in April, increasing 3.4%, and remained on the rise for the following three months, going up 11.6% in May, 5.3% in June and 7.1% in July.
Due to brisk container traffic from China, declines in freight rates have deceased. The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) unveiled by the Shanghai Shipping Exchange (SSE) showed that fares, which fell all the way to $140 per TEU in March, came back in May owing to growth in container throughput on the route, reaching $205 per TEU. More recently, they remained above the $150-per-TEU line for the three weeks after Aug. 24.
