24.01.24SCFI Rises 1.5% in Week 3

The composite Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) stood at 2,239.61 points in Week 3, growing 1.5% from the previous week and trending up for eight straight weeks, according to the Shanghai Shipping Exchange (SSE). Major shipping lines are avoiding transiting the Suez Canal due to escalations in the shipping crisis in the Red Sea and rerouting vessels to the Cape of Good Hope. As a result, freight rates on the route to U.S. increased, helping spot rates for container exports from Shanghai remain steady.

On east-west trade lanes, ex-Shanghai spot rates fell 2.4% to $3,030 per TEU to Europe. On the other hand, they improved 0.8% to $4,067 per TEU to the Mediterranean, 8.7% to $4,320 per FEU to the U.S. West Coast and 7.7% to $6,262 per FEU to the U.S. East Coast.

On north-south routes, spot rates for containers from Shanghai waned 14.9% to $1,892 per TEU to the Middle East Gulf and 5.6% to $2,714 per TEU to South America. In contrast, they picked up 0.7% to $1,818 per TEU to southern Africa and 2.4% to $2,380 per TEU to eastern and western Africa.

Within Asia, ex-Shanghai container spot rates rose 9.3% to $153 per TEU to South Korea and 0.7% to $302 per TEU to Kanto, Japan but sank 1% to $289 per TEU to Southeast Asia and 0.7% to $289 per TEU to Kansai, Japan.

Set at a baseline of 1,000 points on Oct. 16, 2009, the SCFI is an indicator for spot rates for container exports from Shanghai that do not include terminal handling charges (THCs).