The first freight line broke ten thousand! The four major routes soared! Rates have risen for 12 weeks in a row!

      Recently, the global container shipping market continues to show a strong upward trend, and the peak season effect has significantly driven the freight rate increase. According to the latest edition of the Shanghai Export Container Freight Index (SCFI) on the 28th, the weekly increase of 6.87% reached 3,714.32 points, and has risen for 12 consecutive weeks.

      Among the major routes, European routes, which were flat last week, once again showed strong gains, with rates up 12.5 per cent. At the same time, the Mediterranean route and the United States East route freight rate increased by more than 10%. Among them, the freight rate of the European route rose by 12.55% to break the $5,000 /TEU level, and the freight rate of the United States East route rose by 12.05% to break the $9,000 /FEU mark.

As the third quarter entered the traditional peak season for transportation demand in Europe and the United States, coupled with the impact of trade friction and tariffs, exporters have moved forward shipments to respond to market changes. At the same time, European and American retailers are also worried about the Red Sea crisis delayed delivery also pulled up inventory, resulting in the current European and American lines are full and booked until the end of July.

      Shipping companies have successfully pushed up freight rates in May and June, large freight forwarders revealed that from July 1, in addition to the United States East route due to the dockworkers strike crisis caused freight rates to increase by $2,000, the United States West and European routes are raised by $1,000-1,200 per large box. Most Mediterranean routes maintain the same freight rate of $7,000 per large box. However, it is expected that the next wave of price increases on July 15 May ease some of the increase in the West.

      A number of freight forwarder companies pointed out that according to the price increase plan on July 1, the freight rate of the United States West   route will rise from $7100-7400 to $8100-8400, and the United States East route will rise from $8300-8400 to $10300-10400, becoming the first route with a freight rate of 10,000 yuan. European routes will rise from $7,500 to $8,500, while Mediterranean routes are expected to remain around $7,000, perhaps with a small increase of $200-300 for some companies.

      However, the market also reported that many shipping companies such as Mediterranean Shipping and CMA CGM plan to launch overtime ships in July, and CMA CGM provides preferential rates for major customers in Europe; At the same time, some shipping companies that withdrew from European and American routes after the epidemic also began to return to the route. As a result, the industry estimates that the original plan of July 15 for the United States and Europe on the West and European routes of another $1,000 to $2,000 per package plan may not be realized. The number of weekly limited-price containers offered by shipping companies to long-haul customers on the West American route has been relaxed, and even some shipping companies predict that freight rates on European routes will only rise by $200-300. In short, the impact of multiple factors on the rise in freight rates in mid-July remains to be seen.

According to the latest tariff:

      Freight from the Far East to Europe reached 4,880 US dollars /TEU, up 544 US dollars from last week, a weekly increase of 12.55%; Freight from the Far East to the Mediterranean reached $5,387 /TEU, up $532, or 10.96%, from the previous week. The freight rate from Far East to West America reached $7,830 /FEU, up $657 or 9.16% from the previous week; The freight rate from the Far East to the United States reached 9,274 US dollars /FEU, a sharp increase of 997 US dollars from last week, an increase of 12.05%. Persian Gulf line freight rate of $2,711 per box, down $182, or 6.29%; South American line (Santos) freight per box 8854 US dollars, up 296 US dollars, an increase of 3.46%; Southeast Asia Line (Singapore) freight per box 743 US dollars, up 4 US dollars, or 0.54%.

      Shipping industry experts point out that the current change in global consolidation supply and demand is impacted by two persistent factors. The first is the ongoing impact of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as the conflict cannot be calmed, shipping activities in the Red Sea region are difficult to return to normal, resulting in a major reversal of the global container transport supply and demand pattern. The second is the ongoing impasse in the United States East labor negotiations, because the two sides have failed to reach an agreement, the United States East terminal faces increasing pressure to slow down. In fact, the biggest uncertainty lies in the US-East route. Negotiations between the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Union (USMX) on a new labor contract for port workers on the East Coast and Gulf Coast of the United States have been suspended due to automation at Maersk's dedicated terminals affecting workers' job rights. The current agreement is due to expire on September 30, and although the US presidential election is approaching, the government is unlikely to allow a strike, but the union may launch intermittent work slowdowns before the expiration of the agreement, which will seriously affect the normal operation of the US East port, because the US East port accounts for 43% of the total port handling volume.

      Yangming Shipping said that the current global shipping market is still affected by a variety of external factors, resulting in a serious imbalance between market supply and demand. Despite full capacity, it is still facing a difficult situation in July. Due to the uncertainty of geopolitical issues, the trend of the container market needs to be reviewed and evaluated on a month-by-month basis.

      However, the person in charge of a super large freight forwarding company believes that in view of the sharp rise in freight rates of the United States East Line and the successive launch of overtime ships, if there is not enough cargo volume support, freight rates may fall quickly. Delury's WCI composite rate index rose 4% on Thursday night, and Delury expects further modest increases due to congestion at Asian ports. Freight from Shanghai to Rotterdam increased by $455 or 7% to $7,322 /FEU. Freight between Shanghai and Los Angeles and Shanghai to New York increased by 4% to $6,673 /FEU and $7,827 /FEU respectively. Freight from Shanghai to Genoa increased by 1% to $7,102 /FEU.