Weekly Commentary on China Containerized Transportation

Zhu+Pengzhou

In the week ending April 10， China export box transport market sees transport demand stable， but it declines overall， which is impacted by the oversupply of capacity.

On April 10， China （Export） Containerized Freight Index （CCFI） issued by Shanghai Shipping Exchange （SSE） quotes 969.06 points， down by 2.6% from last week， while Shanghai （Export） Containerized Freight Index （SCFI） issued by SSE increases by 3.8% from one week ago to 792.92 points， which is benefited by the large increase of freight rate in the USWC service.

In the Europe service， the upward economy spurs box liners expectation of transport demand， who keep expanding capacity input.

In the week ending April 10， the average slot utilization rates in the Europe and Mediterranean services are around 80%. Furthermore， as the form of box alliance， freight rate competition is stiffened， causing spot rate declining repeatedly.

On April 10， freight indices in the services from China to Europe and Mediterranean quote 1109.50 points and 1187.69 points， down by 4.7% and 5.7% against one week ago respectively.

In the North America service， as the recovery of operation in the USWC ports， transport demand improves.

Nevertheless， as the input of more mega vessels， demand/supply condition has no remarkable improvement.

In order to rehike freight rate， most box liners begins to implement freight rate increase plan from this week， but only by USD298 per FEU. On April 10， freight rate in the service from Shanghai to USWC service （covering seaborne surcharges） quotes USD1932 per FEU， rebounding 18.2% from one week ago. In the USEC service， demand/supply condition is good， but most box liners choose to hike freight rate slightly， for the sack of their own market shares.

Spot rate stops falling and starts to be firm. On April 10， fright rates in the Shanghai-USEC service （covering seaborne surcharges） quotes USD4057 per FEU， up by 0.6% slightly from one week ago.

Cargo volume performs stable in the Australia/New Zealand service， where the average slot utilization rate stands around 80%. Most box liners reduce freight rate because of excess capacity.

On April 10， freight rate in the Shanghai-Australia service （covering seaborne surcharges） quotes USD557 per TEU， diving for 18.1% from one week ago.

In the Persian Gulf service， transport demand improves slightly. Thanks for the service-ceasing measures by part of box liners， the average slot utilization rate increases to be above 90%. On April 10， freight rate in the Shanghai-Persian Gulf service （covering seaborne surcharges） quotes USD540 per TEU， up by 1.7% from last week.

Transport demand keeps stable in the Japan service， where the average slot utilization rate hovers at around 60%， with spot rate stable.

On April 10， freight index in the China-Japan service quotes 677.71 points， almost in line with that last week.

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