Drewry box index slips again as contract talks get underway

CONTAINER spot rates on main transpacific route fell six per cent this week, the second weekly decline since Chinese New Year, reports London`s Drewry Shipping Consultants.

Drewry`s weekly container rating showed shippers faced US$1,846 for an FEU moving from Hong Kong to Los Angeles for the week ending February 21, down 8.3 per cent from a year earlier.


Drewry Supply Chain Advisors chief Philip Damas sensed transpacific market instability, but also noted that there had been reports customers not getting space out of China before the holiday. Others sources say there had been more rollovers than ever, and tales of cargo being taken from Chinese docks but dumped en route in Singapore and Port Klang to await later transshipment.


Carriers note that spot rates account for less than 10 per cent of transpacific cargo as most moves under contract, noted Newark`s Journal of Commerce. Declines may also be short-lived as they proved to be on March 1, 2009 when the Drewry spot index slipped 7.5 per cent, but increased steadily afterwards as cargo demand rose with the approach of the peak season.