News
The composite Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI), an indicator for spot rates for container exports from the Chinese port that do not include terminal handling charges (THCs), slid 1.3% from the previous week in Week 50, according to the Shanghai Shipping Exchange (SSE). Although the index has been on the decline for 26 weeks running, spot rates for containers to Europe increased minutely, turning upward for the first time in seven months, thanks to growth in shipment before Lunar New Year. Spot rates have slightly risen on the route to the Mediterranean, while improvements were seen on those to Australia/New Zealand and Japan. Spot rates may have bottomed out and shown signs of recovery.
On the trade to North America, spot rates fell 0.5% to $1,423 per FEU for container exports to the west coast, which have stayed on a downward trend for 30 consecutive weeks now. Those for shipments to the east coast waned 3.7% to 3,169 per FEU, which have trended down for the 29th week in a row.
