Drewry announced the latest World Container Freight Index (WCI), which fell 2%, with the composite index falling to US$2,046.51; Ningbo Shipping Exchange released the NCFI freight index, which fell 1% from last week.
It seems that shipping companies’ massive reduction and merging of classes around the Spring Festival to control shipping capacity has not met expectations of maintaining relatively stable freight rates.
In this period’s comprehensive index, except for the freight rate from Shanghai to the West Coast, which increased by 1%, the freight rates on other routes are all declining.
The Drewry WCI Composite Index was at $2,046 per large case, 80% below the peak of $10,377 reached in September 2021 and 24% below the 10-year average of $2,694, indicating a return to more normal levels, but It is still 46% higher than the average freight rate of US$1,420 before the outbreak in 2019.
The freight rate from Shanghai to Los Angeles increased by 1%, to US$2,072 per large box;
Shanghai-Rotterdam freight rate fell by 4%, to US$1,741 per large box;
The Shanghai-New York freight rate fell by 6% or US$191 to US$3,241 per large box.
The freight rate from Shanghai to Genoa remains unchanged from the previous period, at US$2,778 per large box.
Drewry expects freight rates to continue to fall slightly in the coming weeks.
According to news from the Ningbo Shipping Exchange on January 28, in this period (January 21 to January 27), the Ningbo Export Container Freight Index (NCFI) of the Maritime Silk Road Index released by the Ningbo Shipping Exchange closed at 709.1 points, down 1.0% from the previous period.
The freight index of 10 of the 21 routes increased, and the freight index of 11 routes fell. Among the major ports along the “Maritime Silk Road”, the freight index of 6 ports increased and the freight index of 10 ports fell.
The market for the West South America route has been highly volatile in this period. Liner companies have arranged for large-scale temporary suspension of sailings after the holiday, and the freight rate of the route has increased slightly. The freight index for the South American West Route was 379.4 points, an increase of 8.7% from last week.
European and continental routes: The Spring Festival holiday for many upstream and downstream companies in the container shipping market has not yet ended, and the booking prices for the European and continental routes are generally stable. The freight index for the European route was 658.3 points, down 1.1% from last week; the freight index for the east-west route was 1043.8 points, up 1.4% from last week; the freight index for the east-west route was 1190.2 points, down 0.4% from last week.
North American routes: Market supply and demand have not changed significantly, and route freight rates have generally fluctuated steadily. The freight index for the US East Route was 891.7 points, down 1.6% from last week; the freight index for the US West Route was 768.2 points, down 1.3% from last week.
Middle East routes: Most of the cargo carried by liners is stockpiled before the holidays, and the booking price in the spot market has dropped slightly. The Middle East route index was 667.7 points, down 3.1% from last week.
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