The demand in the collective transportation market was weak in the off-season, and freight rates fell for 21 consecutive weeks, with the decline further expanding.
According to the latest data released by the Shanghai Aviation Exchange on November 11, the Shanghai Export Container Freight Index (SCFI) fell 135.92 points to 1443.29 points, and the decline expanded from 6.98% in the previous week to 8.6%, expanding for the third consecutive week. The decline in freight rates on the Western United States line has been significantly converged, but the European and Eastern United States line have become the hardest hit areas for freight rates to fall sharply.
Last week, the freight rate per TEU of the European line fell by $285 to $1,478, a drop of 16.16%; the freight rate per TEU of the Mediterranean line fell by $161 to $2,061, a drop of 7.24%; the freight rate per FEU of the US Western line fell by $49 to $1,632, a drop of 2.91%; the freight rate per TEU of the US Eastern line fell by $667 to $4,223, a drop of 13.44%.
Shanghai Aviation Exchange pointed out that the European economy is not optimistic, energy prices are at a high level, inflation remains high, and transportation demand lacks growth momentum. Last week, the European line freight rate fell 16.2% and the Mediterranean line fell 7.2%. The North American line was controlled by the continued tightening of the Federal Reserve's policies. The performance of the US economy continued to decline, and supply and demand basically weakened. Last week, the freight rate of the US Western Front fell 2.9% and the US Eastern Front fell 13.6%.
At the same time, the South American line (Santos) freight rate fell 872 US dollars per TEU to $2944, a drop of 22.85%; the Persian Gulf line freight rate fell 162 US dollars per TEU to $1650, a drop of 6.95%. In terms of the near-ocean line, the freight rate per TEU of the Japanese Kansai Line rose by US$2 to US$322; the freight rate per TEU of the Japanese Kansai Line rose by US$21 to US$318, and the rose by 7%; the freight rate per TEU of the Southeast Asian Line (Singapore) fell by US$9 to US$346, or 2.53%; the freight rate per TEU of the Korean Line ( Busan ) fell by US$2 to US$256.
Industry insiders said that the current average freight rate in the spot market of the US West Line is about US$1,400/FEU. When the freight rate is already lower than the cost price, the freight rate in the US West Line shows signs of stabilization; on the other hand, there is still room for freight rates to fall, and the freight rate decline has increased.
Industry insiders believe that as the peak season of transportation ends, demand is weaker, resulting in the reduction of shifts by transportation companies, and the decline in the SCFI index has expanded for three consecutive weeks. At present, freight rates may fall all the way to the spring period of the first quarter of next year. Generally speaking, the first quarter of each year followed by the peak sales season in Europe and the United States in the fourth quarter of the previous year, and the first quarter is often the off-season.
freight rate reflects the profits of the transportation company's revenue, and there will be a two-month difference. In the first quarter of this year, the SCFI index averaged 4876 points, the average was 4212 points in the second quarter, the average was 3362 points in the third quarter, and the average was 1770 points in the fourth quarter. Judging from the SCFI index, the profits of the transportation company from the fourth quarter to the first quarter of next year will drop sharply, and it is likely to even lose money in the first quarter of next year.
