Reporter Li Ximing / Report from Taipei
The price war that shipping companies are worried about continues. According to the Shanghai Shipping Exchange, the container freight index CCFI/SCFI has shown a weekly decline until last week (March 10), of which CCFI continued to fall from 1057.68 points on March 3 To 1020.6 points, SCFI also fell from 931.08 points last week to 906.55 points, it is worth watching whether the market bottoms out again.
The data shows that among the 12 routes listed in the index, only the freight rates of Japan and Southeast Asia rose slightly, and the other 10 routes all fell. Among them, the European route reached the critical point of 1,200 points at 1301.64 points, and the New Zealand and Australia routes 896.61 points fell below the 900-point barrier, the South African line 1105.13 points also fell below 1,200 points, and the wave red line 1057 points dropped 900 points. According to market sources, the container shipping price war is ongoing, and the gap between the contract price and the spot freight rate is rapidly narrowing. It seems that various routes are cutting freight rates instead of shipping capacity.
Marketplace platforms Xeneta and Sea intelligence paint a picture of the containers showing that the industry is opting for price wars rather than capacity management. The drop in contract rates signals the end of the costly COVID hangover for shippers. A post-pandemic high freight rate environment driven by equipment and staff shortages, terminal congestion and increased consumer demand is locked into long-term contracts as shippers worry about further rate increases and need to secure space Space, as container congestion eases and spot prices start to drop, many shippers have to pay freight until contracts are renewed, and cargo owners now have the upper hand in these negotiations.
In addition, according to the Shanghai Shipping Exchange’s two indexes reflecting the status of the global container liner schedule in February 2023 – the punctuality rate of receiving and shipping services and the punctuality rate of port liner services both showed a sharp rebound, declaring a healthy return to the liner service level.
