Shippers are resigned to the probability that container spot freight rates from Asia will remain at their current high levels for some time after Chinese New Year. Today’s beginning of the Chinese lunar new year would usually herald several weeks of downward pressure on freight rates, but so far there are no indications...
Shippers face many more months of inflated freight rates, as ocean carriers show no sign of easing their strategy of keeping capacity tight and favouring high-paying spot cargo. In a customer Q&A session this morning, Hapag-Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen said the carrier was still “flooded with bookings”. He said: “It will be...
Container shipping spot freight rates on the Asia-North Europe trade declined 2.7% this week – a further sign the recent exponential growth has levelled off. Today’s Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI) Shanghai-North Europe leg was $4,276 per teu, down $117 per teu from last week, as carriers began to release more equipment...
Container spot rates continued to climb on the Asia-Europe trades this week on the back of strong demand and extremely tight capacity, in terms of both vessel and equipment availability. Today’s Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI) published a rate of $1,508 per teu for Shanghai-North Europe, an increase of $262 per teu...
Container rates across main and secondary tradelanes are exploding, with no hope of any easing of the pain for ocean freight shippers in the coming weeks, or possibly even months. Today’s Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) comprehensive index value has doubled since May, with several tradelane components recording gains in spot rates...
Container shipping spot rates on the main deepsea east-west trades this week maintained the historic highs seen in recent weeks. Today’s Shanghai Containerised Freight Index demonstrates that carriers continue to hold the upper hand as the annual round of contract negotiations on the Asia-Europe trades looms. The SCFI’s Shanghai-North Europe route ticked up...
As China’s Golden Week national holiday comes to an end, container shipping spot rates on the main east-west trades have remained flat. According to today’s Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI), spot rates on the Shanghai-North Europe trade fell a marginal $19 to $1,149 per teu. On the Shanghai-Mediterranean route, the decline was just...
Despite the start of the traditional slack season – as China’s Golden Week holiday gets underway – there seems no easing of the demand spike from Asia to the US and Europe. And reports to The Loadstar suggest some factories in China are continuing production during the holiday to catch up with...
