Weekly Commentary on China Containerized Transportation

Zhu+Pengzhou

In the week ending April 17， China export box market sees transport demand stable， while impacted by the oversupply of capacity， many services experience more stiffened competition， causing the whole market slip. On April 17， China （Export） Containerized Freight Index （CCFI） issued by Shanghai Shipping Exchange （SSE） quotes 951.55 points， down by 1.8% from last week; while Shanghai （Export） Containerized Freight Index （SCFI） issued by SSE falls by 9.0% from one week ago to 721.61 points.

In the Europe service， transport demand goes upward slightly. The average slot utilization rate in the Europe and Mediterranean services stand 80% and 85%. For the sack of market share， box liners have to cancel fright rate increase plan. As a result， spot rate slip further， with the lowest in the Europe and Mediterranean services falling by USD275 per TEU and USD400 per TEU respectively. On April 17， freight rates in the services from Shanghai to Europe and Mediterranean services （covering seaborne surcharges） quote USD 399 per TEU and USD540 per TEU， down by 14.4% and 11.0% from one week ago. Furthermore， according to insiders， most box liners plan to control capacity in the Europe and Mediterranean services， aiming to improve demand/supply condition and hike freight rates.

In the USWC service， cargo volume goes north firmly， whilst， as the input of mega vessels and the improvement of ports effect， the demand/supply condition has no remarkable improvement. For the lack of sufficient cargo volume， freight rate increase plan last week is failed， therefore， box liners have to reduce it， which falls by USD300 per FEU in general. On April 17， freight rate in the Shanghai-USWC service （covering seaborne surcharges） quotes USD1623/FEU， slip by 16.0% from one week ago. Demand/supply condition in the USEC service goes better. However， since freight rate stands on the relatively high level， spot rate has large space of slip. Therefore， box liners， in order to lock market shares， have to reduce freight rate one by one， leading spot rate tumbling largely. On April 17， freight rate in the Shanghai-USEC service （covering seaborne surcharges） has a week-on-week decrease of 8.8% to USD3701 /FEU.

Cargo volume keeps flat in the Australia/New Zealand service， where the average slot utilization rate keeps around 90%. Owing to the market condition tends to be better， spot rate slip slowly. On April 17， freight index in the China- Australia/New Zealand service quotes 744.58 points， almost in line with that last week.endprint

Transport demand in the Persian Gulf service increases slightly. Under the support of part of box liners， the average slot utilization rate keeps at around 90%. Furthermore， some box liners who hiked freight rate last week keep it unchanged， which spirits the rest of box liners follow， causing spot rate upward. On April 17， fright rate in the Shanghai-Persian Gulf service （covering seaborne surcharges） quotes USD626 per TEU， jumping 15.9% from last week.

Spot rate tumbles slightly in the Japan service， where the average slot utilization rate keeps below 60%. On April 17， freight index in the China-Japan service quotes 672.34 points， in line with that last week.

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

SHIPPING EXCHANGE

BULLETIN

TOTAL EDITION： 929

28/4/2015

CONTENT FOR THIS WEEK

?Shipping Policies on Shanghai FTZ Are Set to Extend

?Financial Policy on Shanghai FTZ Has a Large Break

?CSAC and Hapag-Lloyd Post Polarized Profits

?Four State-owned Shipping Companies Are Said to Merge

?Freight Rate in Asia-Europe Service Quotes on the Rock

Bottom

?VAT Is Time to Be Carried out on Shipping Insuranceendprint