Weekly Commentary on China Containerized Transportation

Liu+Zijia

In the week ending March 28， the whole China export box market saw that the oversupply capacity was changed reversely. On March 28， China （Containerized） Freight Index （CCFI） issued by Shanghai Shipping Exchange （SSE） quoted 1050.42 points， down by 1.7 percent week on week. Since spot rate declined for a long time， box carriers announced a new round of freight rate increase plan recently， which boosted booking rate in the spot market. On March 28， Shanghai （Containerized） Freight Index （SCFI） issued by SSE dived by 14.8 percent again last week to 1067.44 points.

Cargo volume in the Europe service kept increasing stably. The market had not seen an evident expansion of capacity， and the average slot utilization rate inched up to be 85 percent above， with loading rate in some services surplus 90 percent. Benefited by the improved market environment， most box liners carried out freight rate adjustment plan， leading to the average slot utilization rate rising recently. On March 28， the freight rate in the Shanghai-Europe service （covering seaborne surcharges） quoted USD1214 per TEU， climbing by 44 percent against last week. In the Mediterranean service， Cargo volume increased more than that in the Europe service， and the demand/supply condition improved remarkably， with the average slot utilization rate climbed up to be 90 percent around. Simultaneously， the booking freight rate on the spot market rose. On March 28， the freight rate in the Shanghai-Mediterranean service （covering seaborne surcharges） jumped by 56.9 percent to USD1401 per TEU. On the previous period， the excess capacity was worsened and spot rate in the Europe service declined unilaterally， which amounted to reduce by about 50 percent， or USD850 per TEU.

In the North America service， the U.S. economy recovered stably， encouraging outbound consuming demand. However， the cargo increasing effect was evaded somehow by operation of new-added capacity. Supply/demand condition had a slight improvement， and the average slot utilization rate kept at around 90 percent， with spot rate stable. On March 28， the freight index in the services from China to USWC and USEC quoted 1000.07 points and 1199.76 points， both kept in line with that last week.

Cargo volume rose up stably in the Australia service， where the average slot utilization rate hovered between 85-90 percent. Furthermore， part of box carriers pushed up freight rate， with the average slot utilization rate arising fast. On March 28， the freight rate in the Shanghai-Australia service （covering seaborne surcharges） quoted USD878 per TEU， jumping by 62 percent against last week.

The transport market in the South America service saw that transport demand had no evident improvement， which was impacted by many economy factors. In the East coast of this service， the average slot utilization rate kept on around 75 percent. In the West coast of South America service， cargo volume was stable， and the average slot utilization rate kept at around 80 percent， where the oversupply of capacity not changed completely， with spot rate declining. On March 28， the freight index in the China-South America service quoted 709.33 points， almost unchanged from last week.

In the Japan service， cargo volume rose up firmly， and the average slot utilization rate inched up to be 80 percent around， with spot rate stable. On March 28， the freight index in the China-Japan service quoted 823.29 points， almost in line with that last week.

（Please contact the Information Dept of SSE for more details.）endprint