The Freight Rate has Fallen for Nine Consecutive Years! Shipping Companies Suspend Large-scale Sailings

The container freight rate continued to fall, and the decline increased. The latest Shanghai Container Freight Index (SCFI) was 3562.67 points, down 177.05 points from last week, or 4.73%, and it has been falling for the ninth week in a row.

In the latest issue, the freight rates of major routes all fell:
Far East to America West fell $346 to $6153/FEU, or 5.32%;
Far East to US East fell $224 to $9106/FEU, or 2.40%;
The freight rate from Far East to Europe was US$4,971/TEU, down US$195 or 3.77% from last week;
The freight rate from the Far East to the Mediterranean was US$5,633/TEU, down US$219 or 3.74% from last week.
In terms of Southeast Asian routes, it was US$775/TEU, down US$71 or 8.39% from last week.
For the Persian Gulf route, the freight rate was US$2,372/TEU, down 8.8% from the previous issue.
The Australia-New Zealand route continued to fall, and the freight rate was US$2,902/TEU, down 2.9% from the previous issue.
The South American route has declined for three consecutive weeks, and the freight rate is US$9,214/TEU, down US$317 from last week and down 3.33% from the previous period.

Among them, the Southeast Asia and the West America routes have increased their declines, with weekly declines of 8.39% and 5.32% respectively. Industry insiders pointed out that the congestion problem of European and American ports continues to expand due to strikes and other factors, and the future trend of freight rates will depend on the contest between cargo volume and congestion. Large freight forwarding companies pointed out that there are strikes on railways, highways and ports in Europe and the United States. The low water level of the Rhine River in Germany has led to a significant reduction in the cargo capacity of ships or even suspension of sailings. If the market cargo volume rebounds or the port congestion continues to deteriorate, the freight rate may be will pick up.

The latest data released by other major freight indices show that freight rates in the spot market continue to decline. Drewry's World Containerized Index (WCI) has fallen for 24 consecutive weeks, with the latest WCI composite index down 3% for the week to $6,430.07/FEU, down 32% from the same period last year. Shipping rates from Shanghai to Genoa decreased by 10% or $962 to $8,779/FEU. Shanghai-Los Angeles rates fell 2% or $151 to $6,834/FEU. Shipping rates from Shanghai to Rotterdam fell by 1% or $106 to $8,833/FEU. Drewry expects rates to continue falling in the coming weeks.

The Baltic Sea Freight Index (FBX) global composite index was US$5,956/FEU, down 3% for the week; the US West fell sharply by 7% to US$6,149/FEU; the US East fell 4% to US$9,484/FEU; Northern Europe fell 5% to 9986 USD/FEU. Only the Mediterranean rose 2% to $10,877/FEU.

In addition, the latest Ningbo Export Container Freight Index (NCFI) released by Ningbo Shipping Exchange closed at 2776.2 points, down 4.7% from last week. The freight index of 21 routes all fell. Among the major ports along the "Maritime Silk Road", the freight index of 2 ports rose, and the freight index of 14 ports fell.

European route: European inflation continues, consumer purchasing demand is weak, and the market is oversupplied. Since August, the week-on-week decline of the freight index on the European route has been significantly larger than that in July. The freight index of European routes was 3640.7 points, down 3.0% compared with last week; the freight index of east route was 3193.2 points, down 5.9% compared with last week; the freight index of western route was 4041.6 points, down 3.9% compared with last week.

North American routes: The peak season of the market is not strong, and the demand for freight has not improved. The freight rates of the East and West routes continue to decline. The freight index of the US east route was 3151.5 points, down 1.7% compared with last week; the freight index of US west route was 3373.0 points, down 4.6% compared with last week.

Middle East route: The supply and demand relationship in the market did not improve, and the freight rate of the route maintained a relatively large decline. Up to now, the freight rate index of Middle East routes has dropped by 45.2% compared with mid-June. The Middle East route index was 1821.7 points, down 8.4% from last week.

In addition, the market for the following routes was volatile this week:
Thailand-Vietnam route: There is a serious shortage of freight demand, and the Thailand-Vietnam route has excess space. The freight rate has continued to decline for 10 weeks, and the weekly decline is the largest this year. The freight index of Thailand-Vietnam route was 552.2 points, down 32.2% from last week