Weekly Commentary on China Containerized Transportation

Zhu Pengzhou

In the week ending Nov.28， China export box market sees the whole transport demand slip， which is affected by the shipment rush before the Christmas， with spot rate in many services declining.

On Nov.28， China （Export） Containerized Freight Index （CCFI） issued by Shanghai Shipping Exchange （SSE） quotes 1047.04 points， down by 0.8% from last week; while Shanghai （Export） Containerized Freight Index （SCFI） issued by SSE quotes 949.65 points， declining by 6.2% from one week ago.

In the Europe service， France， one of the core states in the Europe， is experiencing high unemployment， and extend the recovery expectation of transport demand. As the end of the peak season， transport demand tends to be weak. In terms of capacity， the launch of big vessels destroys the capacity control effect， with the average slot utilization rates in the Europe and Mediterranean services stand around 80% and 85%.

On Nov.28， freight rate in the services from Shanghai to Europe and Mediterranean （covering seaborne surcharges） quote USD739 /TEU and USD952 /TEU， falling by 8.7% and 6.0% from last week respectively.

In the North America service， the U.S. economy keeps on the recovery way， which insures the upward transport demand. The good performance of cargo volume during peak season also spurs the expectation of box carriers， so capacity also increases following cargo volume.

However， affected by the long voyage， the Christmas cargo volume slips fast， leading to the oversupply of capacity. In order to fill the excess ship space， box liners enforces the increase of freight rate， with spot rate diving remarkably. On Nov.28， freight indices in the services from China to USWC and USEC services quote 990.29 points and 1337.43 points， down by 0.3% and 2.2% against last week respectively.

In the Persian Gulf service， affected by the weak transport demand， vessel capacity is controlled somehow by some measures， but still fails to stop the average slot utilization rate from declining， which slips to be around 85% finally.

Under this circumstance， most box liners extend the freight rate increase plan to mid Dec.， the details should depends on the post trend. Furthermore， most box liners unwilling to reduce freight rate and spot rate fluctuate.

On Nov.28， freight rate in the Shanghai-Persian Gulf service （covering seaborne surcharges） quote USD906/TEU， falling by 1.2% from one week ago.

In the Australia service， as the gradually end of shipment rush， the whole transport demand slip further， and the average slot utilization rate stands 85% about. As a result， spot rate declines evidently. On Nov.28， freight rate in the Shanghai to Australia service （covering seaborne surcharges） quotes USD747/TEU， declining by 9.2% against one week ago.

Cargo volume keeps stable in the Japan service， where the average slot utilization rate hovers at around 65%， with spot rate shaking. On Nov.28， freight index in the China-Japan service quotes 623.87 points， down by 2.5% from one week ago.

（Please contact the Information Dept of SSE for more details.）

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9/12/2014

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