Xinhua News Agency Beijing, September 22 (Reporters Ding Yawen, Li Ting, Wu Huijun) As sea freight prices continue to break through historical highs, several major liner giants have successively announced the suspension of raising spot freight rates.
Industry insiders analyzed that liner companies' "freeze prices" may help stabilize shipping prices. However, is this move a "stop measure" under stricter supervision, or is it a bargaining chip that intends to raise shipping prices through forward contract prices? How to resolve the conflict between liner company and shipper? When will sea freight prices reach a turning point? The reporter interviewed many people from all links of the industrial chain and learned about the real situation of the current maritime market.
liner giant announced the suspension of the increase in spot freight rates
As of now, four liner giants have announced the suspension of the increase in spot freight rates. After
Zida Fly Shipping announced the suspension of spot freight rates, the three giant companies, Maersk , Hapag-Lloyd , and Ocean Network, also expressed their promise that they would not raise spot freight rates in the future.
Among them, Dafei Shipping stated in its statement that it would stop all spot freight prices. The measure will take effect immediately from September 9, 2021 until February 1, 2022. Hapag-Lloyd said it would not further increase spot freight rates and hoped that the market would slowly begin to calm down.
Regarding the above-mentioned measures of liner companies, market participants believe that this is a "stoppable measure" due to regulatory pressure.
The previous Global Shipping Regulatory Summit reported that the abnormally high operation of shipping prices and container prices has attracted widespread attention from global regulators, legislators and the public.
, director of Tianjin Shipping Business Technology Service Center, pointed out that in the past, the maritime regulatory departments of various countries had some regulatory actions against the rise in freight rates, but did not form a joint force. The Global Shipping Regulatory Summit sent a signal that liner companies are becoming more stringent.
The impact of high freight costs
It is understood that the previous continuous surge in shipping prices have affected the production and operation of some companies. The terminal product prices and purchase prices of some overseas customer companies have even been inverted.
The person in charge of a stairware company in Tianjin said that the company uses FOB to ship goods, and the purchaser is generally a large foreign supermarket, and has strong logistics bargaining power. Despite this, customers are complaining about the increase in logistics costs, and the shipping costs to the destination have increased by nearly 5 times. The shipping costs allocated to each ladder are almost covering the price of the product itself.
At the same time, the liner giant's profits maintained a high growth trend in the first half of the year. Among them, the group's net profit in the second quarter rose from US$136 million in the same period last year to US$3.479 billion, a year-on-year increase of 2458.1%; Maersk's profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization in the second quarter reached US$5.1 billion, an increase of 200% over the same period last year.
When will the freight turning point arrive?
As liner giants have successively suspended the increase in spot freight rates, is it possible for sea freight prices to usher in a turning point?
A person in charge of a shipping company told reporters, "The only thing that liner companies announce that they will not raise prices is spot freight, and it is difficult to book cabins with spot freight rates at present. In addition, the capacity of liner companies is basically full by next year."
Yang Jing pointed out that some liner companies announced the freezing of spot freight rates, which is expected to alleviate the trend of sharp rise in freight rates to a certain extent. However, factors that affect the rise in freight rates, such as port congestion and insufficient transportation capacity, still exist. And for shippers, shipping costs not only include freight prices, but also various surcharges, such as fuel surcharges, peak season surcharges, etc. Therefore, freezing spot freight rates may not necessarily bring about the turning point of shipping prices.
At the same time, the port labor force has been greatly reduced, and the decline in terminal operation efficiency has led to a large number of containers arriving in ports and the inability to return on time, which is also an important reason for the continuous rise in international freight rates.
Industry insiders pointed out that although there will be a trend of stricter supervision of liner companies in the future, supervision cannot directly interfere with market prices. It remains to be seen whether sea freight prices can reach a turning point.
Source: Xinhua News Agency
