Container freight rates have fallen by 58% since January

The Shanghai Container Freight Index (SCFI) lost another 10.4% from the previous week to 2072.04, 240.61 points lower than the previous week.

The SCFI is now 59% lower than it was in January of this year, when the index stood at an all-time high of 5,051 points.

It's a similar picture for the Drewry World Container Index (WCI), which reported a 10% weekly decline on Thursday to $4,471.99/FEU. This is the 30th consecutive week of declines in the WCI index and the index is now 57% lower than in the same period last year.

According to Drewry, spot rates on the Shanghai-Los Angeles route fell 11%, or $473, to $3,779/FEU last week. Meanwhile, freight rates on Shanghai - Rotterdam also decreased 10% to 6,027 USD/feu.

Rates are expected to continue to fall, and Drewry said they expect the index to drop in the next few weeks.

As Seatrade Maritime News reported recently, shipping lines have responded by actively reducing capacity on major routes ahead of Golden Week in China, but rates continue to fall. According to Xeneta, capacity between Asia and the US West Coast is 13% lower than in the same period in 2021 – equivalent to 21 8,000 TEU vessels – the average vessel size on this service.

“And still, the spot rates are falling… which is bound to impact on the long-term contracted agreements in the near- to mid-term. Are we beginning to see a wakeup call for carriers after such a prolonged period of growth?" said Peter Sand, chief analyst at Xeneta.

Source: Phaata.com (According to Seatrade Maritime)

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