Freight rates start to fall? Many shipping companies cut freight rates...
The latest Shanghai container export freight index (SCFI) released on the 5th, the index maintained an upward trend for the 13th consecutive week, but the increase slowed down significantly, this week rose slightly to 3733.8 points, an increase of 19.48 points from last week, an increase of only 0.52%.
It is worth noting that the European route appeared a correction, ending the previous nine consecutive weeks of upward trend, and the market focused on whether the European line freight rate had peaked. At the same time, the Persian Gulf, West Africa and South Africa routes have experienced a large decline in freight rates.
Despite the overall trend correction, the US-East route remained strong, with 40-foot container (FEU) rates heading towards the $10,000 mark, the highest since late June 2022.
Many companies cut their freight rates to Western America
American line: With the continuous rise in freight rates and the continuous launch of new ships on the market, shipping market freight rates as expected by the industry began to show signs of loosening.
In response to this change, the industry giant Mediterranean Shipping issued a notice to customers on the evening of the 4th, announcing that the current freight rate will be extended until the end of the month, that is, the original plan to increase the freight rate of $1,000 per 40 feet for the West and East routes of the United States on July 15 was withdrawn.
At the same time, South Korea's Somna Merchant Marine (SM LINE) also informed customers that the rate per FEU on the US-West route will be reduced from $8,100 to $7,500 effective immediately.
During June, in response to market changes and increased demand, a number of shipping companies took active measures. Mediterranean shipping resumed the MUSTANG route from Asia to Western America; Singapore's SeaLeady launched a fast route connecting China and South Korea to West Long Beach in mid-June. Not to be left behind, COSCO Shipping launched the SEA3 US-West Express on June 24, optimized for the needs of cross-border e-commerce, which operates with six container ships capable of carrying 8,533TEU from Kaohsiung, Xiamen and Yantian to the port of Long Beach.
In addition, Desiang has also decided to return to the American and Western markets, planning to operate as an overtime vessel in July, and officially join SeaLeady's American and Western Express in August, further consolidating its market position through the joint shipping model.
A number of freight forwarders pointed out that less than a week after the implementation of the price increase plan on July 1, many shipping companies such as Senluo Merchant Shipping reduced the freight rate of the United States West line, mainly because of the emergence of overtime ships and new routes, Yangming Shipping in the United States East freight rate increased by half, only up $1,000, whether it triggered other shipping companies to follow up remains to be seen.
European line: CMA CGM of France seized the opportunity of the peak season in the third quarter and deployed seven medium-sized container ships of about 7,000 TEU to open up a temporary Asia-Europe route.
The route starts in Asia and passes through the ports of Le Havre and Antwerp in Northern Europe, as well as key ports such as Foss and Malta in the Mediterranean.
The inaugural vessel, a 6,350 TEU container ship, set sail from China's Yantian Port on June 30, and the service is expected to last until the end of September.
According to Peter Sand, chief analyst at Xeneta, a Norwegian freight information platform, Europe's current GDP growth rate of 0.5 percent is not matched by a "dramatic increase in freight volumes."
At the same time, freight forwarding industry insiders said that affected by the tension in the Middle East Red Sea region, European importers generally advanced the procurement plan, coupled with frequent strikes in France and Germany further disrupted the shipping order.
Nevertheless, the industry generally believes that the current demand has not really reached a strong level, so it is expected that there is the possibility of a pullback at any time.
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