News
The composite Ningbo Containerized Freight Index (NCFI), an indicator for container freight rates from Ningbo that was set at 1,000 points in Week 10 of 2012, stood at 747.5 points in Week 15, which rose 9.3% from the previous week and has been on the rise for five weeks in a row, according to the Ningbo Shipping Exchange (NBSE). The individual NCFIs, which cover 21 trade lanes, picked up on 12 and went down on the remaining nine. On routes to major ports along the Maritime Silk Road, the NCFIs improved on those to nine and slid on those to seven.
On the route to Europe, transport demand was mostly stable, having no major impacts on spot rates. The NCFI fell a minute 0.5% to 557.6 points. The NCFIs sank 2.7% to 863.6 points to the east Mediterranean and 2.9% to 993.8 points to the western Mediterranean.
Demand continued to recover on the route to North America, where shipping lines implemented massive rate hikes in the second half of the week, rising spot rates as well. The NCFIs surged 27.3% to 855.3 points to the east coast and 36% to 967.8 points to the west coast.
