News
The composite Ningbo Containerized Freight Index (NCFI) surged 16.1% from the previous week to 1,147.5 points in Week 10 as higher risks of navigating the Red Sea have increased insurance premiums. On the selected 21 trade lanes from Ningbo to which the individual NCFIs are applied, 10 saw their freight rate indices rise, nine saw theirs fall, and the remaining two saw theirs stay flat. As for the major ports along the so-called Maritime Silk Road, nine witnessed their indices increase, and the remaining seven witnessed theirs decrease.
On the trades to Europe and the Mediterranean, some carriers hiked freight rates in early March. Due to capacity oversupply, however, they were not effective enough to keep spot rates on the rise. The NCFIs fell 3.1% to 956 points to Europe, 8.1% to 1,115.7 points to the Eastern Mediterranean, and 0.6% to 1,334 points to the Western Mediterranean.
On the route to North America, transport demand did not recover as fast as expected. On the other hand, capacity supply did recover, exercising downward pressure on spot rates. The NCFIs slid 3.9% to 908.4 points to the east coast and 6.2% to 1,081.6 points to the west coast.
On the trade to the Red Sea, concern over safety persisted, making the NCFI more than double, skyrocketing 104.2% to 3,230.4 points.
The NCFI, an indicator for spot rates for container exports from Ningbo, is issued by the Ningbo Shipping Exchange (NBSE) with help from the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO) and was set at a baseline of 1,000 points in Week 10 of 2012.
