Rates On The Up
August 22, 2011
Container shipping lines continued their fight back last week as all-in spot rates on all four main east-west trade lanes continued to increase as vessel utilisation levels remained steady.
The latest figures from the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI), which is produced by the Shanghai Shipping Exchange (SSE), show prices on services from Shanghai to Europe from the previous week, while on services from Shanghai to the Mediterranean rates jumped $53.
Meanwhile, on services from Shanghai to the US west coast, all-in spot rates jumped $11 on the previous week and prices to the east coast jumped $25.
The SSE said the increases on services from Asia to Europe were caused by vessel utilisation rates remaining at around the 90% mark.
It is the third consecutive week that prices on the trade have increased.
Container derivatives broker Clarkson Securities described the increase in prices as “better than expected”.
Yet, it added that “shippers are uncertain about the longevity of this upwards movement, given the weak market fundamentals”.
SSE said the jump in prices on the Mediterranean trade, which covers services from Shanghai to Barcelona, Valencia, Genoa and Naples, was due to demand outstripping the capacity on offer.
It said it expected continued increases in prices on the trade in the short-term.
The SSE said Asia services heading for northern west coast US ports had also seen a shortage of available capacity over the last few weeks, and services to the east coast also experienced steady volumes, with several voyages running out of slots.
Clarkson said the increases on the transpacific trade lane could also be due to shipping line Matson’s announcement that it would suspend one of its services, which it seemed had been felt strongly on the spot market.
