News
The composite Ningbo Containerized Freight Index (NCFI) grew 5.9% from the previous week to 651.1 points in Week 12, which have been on the rise for two weeks in a row, the Ningbo Shipping Exchange (NBSE) announced last week. On individual trade routes, freight indexes increased on 15 but decreased on six. On routes to major ports along the Maritime Silk Road, freight indexes picked up on those to 11 ports but down to five ports.
On the route to Europe, the NCFI rose 3.8% to 565.6 points due to freight rate raises aggressively given by shipping lines. They continued to control shipping capacity, making some ex-Ningbo ships fully loaded. The NCFIs went up 3.4% to 919.6 points to the eastern Mediterranean and 4.1% to 1,036.1 points to the western Mediterranean.
On the route to North America, spot rates continued to decline until Week 11, reaching very low levels. The NCFI for containers to the U.S. East Coast sank more mildly last week, falling 2.9% to 663.6 points. In contrast, the NCFI for those to the West Coast improved 1.1% to 659.3 points.
The NCFI was set at 1,000 points in Week 10 of 2012.
