New capacity continues to work overtime ships, new routes into the market in the form of cargo, Shanghai Export Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) in the short-term rebound after turning down again.
According to the latest data released by Shanghai Shipping Exchange on August 23, the SCFI index fell 183.73 points to 3097.63 points last week, a weekly drop of 5.59%, the four major routes in Europe and the United States have fallen, of which the U.S. West and the U.S. East routes fell more.
Last week, the tariff per FEU on the Far East to U.S. West line fell by $626 to $5,955, a weekly drop of 9.51%; the tariff per FEU on the Far East to U.S. East line fell by $751 to $8,546, a weekly drop of 8.07%; the tariff per TEU on the Far East to Europe line fell by $210 to $4,400, a weekly drop of 4.55%; the tariff on the Far East to Mediterranean line Freight rates per TEU fell by $122 to $4,523, a weekly drop of 2.62%.
In the near-oceanic line, the tariff per TEU from the Far East to Kansai, Japan was flat compared with the previous week at US$293; the tariff per TEU from the Far East to Kanto, Japan was flat compared with the previous week at US$299; the tariff per TEU from the Far East to Southeast Asia dropped by US$34 compared with the previous week to US$544; and the tariff per TEU from the Far East to South Korea was flat compared with the previous week at US$162.
Industry analysts analyze, China's export cargo volume is not strong enough, many small companies in Asia will be drawn into the ship price higher West Coast route, coupled with the potential strike haze lingers, the market supply and demand changes are too large, the offer is chaotic. mid-August U.S. line tariffs shouting powerless, the recent beginning of the shipping alliance members of the company's price differentials to widen the filling of the cabin to grab the goods phenomenon, for example, the U.S. West line of some members of the alliance to maintain For example, some alliance member companies in the US west line maintain the offer of more than $6,000, but there are also some companies call out about $4,600 discount price.
Recently, the market offer information is confusing, according to the route, different container companies, some container companies a price, some container companies in the ship loading is not full will be given a special price, but also may be adjusted to the long term contract price and spot price ratio, the substance of the price reduction.
Nevertheless, at the current level of freight rates, consolidation companies are still able to maintain profitability. The industry pointed out that the Red Sea crisis has not been resolved before the global container shipping companies have to sail around, resulting in a longer period of time, the formation of support for freight rates, such a tone has not changed so far. Under the impact of the Red Sea crisis, container ship idle capacity has fallen to a record low.
Alphaliner statistics show that, after deducting the number of ships in dock for repair, as of August 12, there were only 67 ships (about 195,000 TEU) in the global fleet in commercial idle state, accounting for the global fleet of about 30 million TEU capacity of 0.6%. Since January this year, the rate of ship idle rate continued to be lower than 1%, indicating that the container fleet has been fully utilized due to the bypassing of the voyage, congestion of ports and market This indicates that the container fleet has been fully utilized due to round trips, port congestion and the advancement of the peak season.
Looking ahead, the industry expects that as demand for North American festive business opportunities comes out of the woodwork starting in September, against the backdrop of the Red Sea Crisis and the US-China trade war, especially as US presidential contender Donald Trump has vowed to impose higher tariffs on Chinese imports, which could result in early shipments from major manufacturers to reduce the pressure on high costs brought about by various election risks. Tight ship supply and strong demand for cargo volumes will push up freight rates.