News
Spot rates for containers from Shanghai to North Europe for Week 49(?) surged 24.2% from the previous week to $2,948 per TEU, the Shanghai Shipping Exchange (SSE) announced recently. Those for containers destined to the Mediterranean also grew steeply, soaring a more notable 28.9% to $3,073 per TEU. On an FEU scale, it is estimated that they reached as high as some $6,000 per 40-foot high-cube container. Including terminal handling, congestion and other surcharges, they even got to near $10,000.
For China Railway Express (CRE), a freight train service linking China with Europe, meanwhile, demand is rising sharply. In November, the China-Europe freight train was stable and unblocked and continued to operate at a high level. There were 1,238 trains and 115,000 TEUs, up 64% and 73% year-on-year respectively, and the comprehensive heavy container rate reached 98.8%. Container movement is yet to show signs of decline in December. It is reported locally that there are so many container retentions at stations located on the border between China and Kazakhstan and between China and Mongolia that transshipment services cannot be provided on a temporally basis.
Freight rates from China to the U.S. East Coast are on the rise as well. Spot rates to the U.S. east coast registered an increase of $104 to $4,804 per 40ft, representing a 91% jump on the same week of the previous year, while rates to the west coast went sideways last week, at $3,984 per 40ft, which is, nonetheless, a massive 188% increase on the SCFI reading of the same period last year.
