Mainline box shipping routes down 6pc, posting record lows in SCFI data

Time:2015-12-01 Browse:68 Author:RISINGSUN
Container volumes on the peak leg Far East-Europe trade are estimated to have contracted six per cent year on year in September, to 1.2 million TEU, according to London`s Container Trader Statistics (CTS).

This contributed to a 4.7 per cent year-on-year fall in box trade on the route during the first nine months of 2015, to 11.1 million TEU. On the transpacific trade, US container imports from Asia are estimated to have grown by around six per cent during the first nine months of 2015, to 11 million TEU.

There have been some recent signs of box volume growth slowing on this route, likely to reflect the impact of a build-up of US retail inventories earlier in 2015, according to Clarkson`s maritime research.

But trade on the route is still expected to grow by six per cent in the full year. In the freight market, spot rates have proved notably volatile on the Shanghai-Europe route in recent weeks.

After achieving a three-month high of US$988 per TEU on October 30, they fell over the following three weeks, and stood at $295 per TEU on November 20, according to Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI) data.

Freight rates on the Shanghai-Med route followed a similar pattern, reaching a high of $804 per TEU at the end of October, and falling to $315 per TEU by November 20. On the transpacific trade, downward pressure on freight rates continued throughout much of November.

The Shanghai-US west coast rate stood at $922 per FEU on November 20, down 32 per cent from end October, while rates on the Shanghai-US east coast route fell 28 per cent over this period, to $1,688 per FEU by November 20.

These are the lowest rates on both routes, according to SCFI records.