The spike in spot container freight rates has flattened off over the last week.
The Drewry World Container Index (WCI,) which has been seeing double-digit percentage weekly increases recently, was up just 1% over the previous week on 11 July at $5,901 per feu.
The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) slid 1% to 3674.86 points on 12 July compared to 5 July levels.
The question now will be if increases are simply taking a breather, or this represents a levelling off of container spot rates.
While container spot freight rates are at extremely elevated levels, they are still well below the highest levels seen during in the pandemic. Drewry’s WCI is some 43% lower than it’s peak of $10,377 per feu in September 2021. Generally analysts think it is unlikely that rates will reach the highest levels that were seen during Covid.
Signs have not particularly positive this week though with severe storms off South Africa bringing to a halt container ships transiting via the Cape of Good Hope to avoid Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. The 18,000 teu CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin lost 44 containers overboard on 9 July while off the coasts of South Africa.
Looking ahead Drewry commented: “Drewry expects freight rates to remain high until the end of the peak season.”
By Marcus Hand. 12 July 2024.
Source: Seatrade Maritimes. https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/containers/container-freight-rates-take-breather. 15 July 2024.
Sabah Tourism Board Partners with DHL Express to Join GoGreen Plus Programme The Sabah Tourism Board (STB), a state government agency under the Sabah Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Environment, has announced its collaboration with DHL Express as the latest member of the GoGreen Plus programme. Through this partnership, STB aims to cut the carbon emissions of its international shipments [...]
Winners and losers from next year’s great global liner reshuffle As the dust settles on yesterday’s series of major liner announcements ahead of February’s alliance reshuffles, analysts suggest the winners from the slew of releases are the freight buyers. THE Alliance will become the Premier Alliance from next February, with Ocean Network Express (ONE), HMM and Yang Ming Marine Transportation as partners, [...]
Red Sea crisis produces winners and losers in Asia as freight rates spike (Sept 12): First-half earnings in Asia showed how the ripple effects of the Red Sea crisis will continue to be costly for companies that make goods for export, while those that transport their wares benefit from higher freight rates. Container ships avoiding the risk of being attacked [...]
Scroll To Top