News
Container exports from China saw continuous declines in freight rates in Week 10. The composite Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI), which reflects spot rates for container exports from Shanghai that do not include terminal handling charges (THCs), went down 2.6% from the previous week to 906.55 points, as the index for the route to the east coast of North America waned 5.5%, according to the Shanghai Shipping Exchange (SSE). Staying on a downward trend for nine weeks in a row, the composite index has come very close to the 900-point mark. As newbuilding deliveries are scheduled to increase from mid-March, it is projected that more powerful downward pressure will be applied on freight rates.
On east-west routes, spot rates for containers from Shanghai fell 3.1% to $1,163 per FEU on the trade to the west coast of North America, 5.5% to $2,194 per FEU to the east coast and 0.7% to 1,589 per TEU to the Mediterranean. They stayed flat at $865 per TEU to Europe.
On north-south trade lanes, ex-Shanghai spot rates improved a minute 0.6% to $2,734 per TEU for exports to eastern and western Africa. In contrast, they slid 9% to $879 per TEU for those to the Middle East Gulf, 16.2% to $280 per TEU for those to Australia and New Zealand, 7% to $1,378 per TEU for those to South America and 4.8% to $2,010 per TEU for those to southern Africa.
In intra-Asia waters, spot rates for exports from Shanghai hiked 1.7% to $180 per TEU. For those to Japan, rates remained unchanged at $328 per TEU for those to Kansai and $328 per TEU for those to Kanto. They sank 1% to $200 per TEU for exports to South Korea.
