Container freight rates since Red Sea issue

[samuel5]

December rates for 40' from Ningbo to Felixstowe were USD 1850
January rates now being quoted at USD 4240.

Anyone else's rates gone up this much?

 

[OMGVape]

December rates for 40' from Ningbo to Felixstowe were USD 1850
January rates now being quoted at USD 4240.

Anyone else's rates gone up this much?

I've been quoted $3500 for a 20ft.

 

[samuel5]

Last month a 20' from Ningbo to Felixstowe was down to $2800 but this month being quoted $3300.

What are other importers being quoted please?

@OMGVape ?

 

[CHUKTC]

Shipping rates have gone up recently worldwide by 400% or more. The current situation is very poor with shipping lines selling space to the highest bidder. This is caused by a shortage of shipping and a shortage of containers. It's probably going to get worse over the next couple of weeks before gradually settling down. There are a number of reasons for this. The effective closure of te Red Sea to shipping is one issue due to the increased shipping time meaning vessels and containers are tied up on a sailing for up to 4 weeks longer for a round trip. But this is only a small part of the problem and rates were actually falling post Chinese New Year despite the Red Sea issues.

Firstly Brazil and Mexico have announced masive tarriffs on Chinese EV's from July 2024 which has resulted in Chinese EV manufacturers shipping hundreds of thousands of cars to these countries without orders to beat the deadline (BYD have shipped 100,000 units alone). To do this they have hired all vessels and containers they could get thier hands on. This has also resulted in huge congestion in the destination ports as they have no customers to move the vehicles on to. The EU is threatening similar action and there is increasing shipments to the EU of EVs as well - again with no customers (EV sales are actully falling in the EU). Port congestion is now becomming a real problem in many EU ports too.

Secondly there has been a large increase in shiping to West Africa (where rates have shot up) again tying up more vessels and containers.

Thirdly the US is threatening 60% tarriffs on Chinese goods after the elections later this year. This has lead to some importers shipping goods earlier than usual for the pre Thanksgiving rush - again leading to further shortage of shipping and containers and port congestion.

Fourthly there is realistically only 5 large shipping lines who appear to me and many others to be acting as a cartel and maintaining the shortage of shipping to keep prices inflated. Share pices in these companies has risen sharply on the back of expected profit rises (similar to during covid).

All this of course is not good news for Chinese trade making many of their products un competitive and it is also going to contribute to further inflation in the UK and elsewhere further down the line. The Brazil, Mexico and USA issues will be short lived however so we expect prices to rise further for the next 2-4 weeks and for prices to then flatten and hopefully fall back to more reasonable levels. The Africa issue and the lack of choice in shipping companies is of course not going to be resolved anytime soon so how far they fall remains to be seen.

 

[Import&Export]

Here's a summary from industry. Synopsis is, expect prices to remain high into the Summer months.

Capacity Outlook

• Fleet Growth: The delivery of new containerships is expected to drive a 9.6% annual fleet growth rate. This increase in capacity, along with vessel diversions and additional summer service deployments, is anticipated to absorb the available supply.
• Vessel Redirections: In the coming weeks, the number of vessels redirected to the Cape Route is projected to reach 5 million TEU, reflecting adjustments in global shipping routes.
• Idle Fleet: The idle container vessel fleet currently stands at a low 0.4% (62 vessels), indicating high utilisation rates.
• Equipment Issues: There are growing equipment issues across the Asia Pacific region, which could impact operational efficiency.

Freight Rates

• Rate Hikes Announced: Carriers have announced significant rate hikes on all Asia outbound lanes. These increases are driven by heightened demand, increased load factors, and equipment challenges in more ports.
• Sustained Increases: These rate hikes are expected to persist at least into the summer, reflecting ongoing market pressures.

 

[samuel5]

$9000 for 40' from Ningbo to Southampton quoted today! I don't inflation is going away anytime soon

 

[PowerForwarding]

Rates still on the rise I'm afraid. Hoping to see this slow down end of July.

 

[OMGVape]

20ft container arriving tomorrow from China, I paid £2400 door to door. Next container being loaded next week in China, I've been quoted £6100

 

[chappers27]

It's not great: Drewry’s World Container Index increased 10% to $5,868 per 40ft container this week.

World Container Index - 04 Jul

04 Jul 2024: Drewry’s World Container Index increased 10% to $5,868 per 40ft container this week.

www.drewry.co.uk