The container shipping market failed to usher in the traditional peak season in the third quarter. The Shanghai Export Container Freight Index (SCFI) fell for nine consecutive weeks and the decline continued to expand. Freight rates on major routes fell across the board.
html On August 12, the Shanghai Aviation Exchange announced that the latest SCFI index continued to fall by 177.05 points to 3562.67 points, a new low since June last year, with a drop of 4.73%. The four major long-haul routes fell simultaneously, with the US East Line and the US West Line experiencing greater declines.Among them, the latest quotation for the US East Line was US$9,106 per FEU, a weekly decrease of US$224, and the decline expanded to 2.4%, a new low since late June last year; the US East Line's per FEU freight price fell by US$346 to US$6,153, a decrease of 5.3%, the lowest since September last year.
It is worth noting that in the next week, both the US East and West lines will face important price confidence levels. The US East line will face an important level of maintaining $9,000, and the US West line will lose $6,000. The market is worried. If the decline increases, the atmosphere of short will be stronger.
At the same time, the European line has fallen below the US$5,000 mark. Last week, the freight rate continued to fall by US$195 to US$4,971 per TEU, a decline that expanded to 3.77%. It also continued to hit a new low since early May last year. The freight rate per TEU of the Mediterranean route was US$5,633, a decrease of 3.74%. In Southeast Asia, the price per TEU reached US$775, a decrease of US$71 or 8.39% from the previous week.
On the other hand, the China Export Container Freight Comprehensive Index (CCFI) also fell last week, falling 2.9% to 3073.28 points. The European line and the Mediterranean line fell by 3.3% and 1.8% respectively. The US East Line fell by 0.8% and the US East Line fell by 0.8%. The western front was flat.
Industry insiders pointed out that the third quarter of the traditional peak season of the container shipping market has passed halfway, but freight rates are still continuing to fall, and the market has seen container shipping companies rush for goods and compete at low prices. The downward revision of freight rates is mainly due to multiple factors such as inflation, epidemic lockdowns, and an increase in new ships, which has led to a decrease in overall cargo volume.
However, falling freight rates can also encourage cargo owners to pull goods, leading to an increase in cargo volume. For example, timber, steel and other sources of goods have previously been transported by bulk carriers due to high container freight rates. In addition, the Thanksgiving and Christmas shipment surges in European and American countries in the fourth quarter should also help alleviate the downward pressure on freight rates.
