Weekly Commentary on China Containerized Transportation

Liu+Zijia

In the week ending Dec.26， China export box market experiences unstable transport demand， with the whole market stumbling. On one hand， since that freight rate increases repeatedly in the ocean-going services， the whole freight rate rebounds slightly. On Dec.26， China （Export） Containerized Freight Index （CCFI） issued by Shanghai Shipping Exchange （SSE） quotes 1044.99 points， up by 0.8% from one week ago. On the other hand， for the lack of support from enough cargo volume， the spot booking rate in many services slips. On Dec.26， Shanghai （Containerized） Freight Index （SCFI） issued by SSE falls by 3.9% against last week to 1076.63 points.

In the Europe service， market fails to be improved. According to the latest data in the Europe commission， the GDP in the Euro zone in the third quarter increase 0.2%， 0.0% and 0.2% year on year， which represents that the economy nearly has no increase， especially for German， France and Italy. Simultaneously， the employment rate in the Euro zone keeps at 11.5% for several consecutive months. Under this circumstance， transport demand is dampened from improvement. As the coming of 2015， most box liners begin to adjust service and capacity layout， which makes demand/supply condition improved evidently. The average slot utilization rate keeps at around 90%， with spot rate slip depressively. Many box liners keeps reducing freight rate， with the aim to lock market share. On Dec.26， freight rates in the services from Shanghai to Europe and Mediterranean （covering seaborne surcharges） quote USD1149 per TEU and USD1303 per TEU， declining by 6.6% and 6.4% from one week ago respectively.

In the North America service， the stable and active economy lays firm foundation for demand. Box liners hike their own freight rates， and the whole rate level goes on the uptrend. On Dec.26， freight indices in the services from China to USWC and USEC services quote 1000.28 points and 1381.80 points， up by 1.9% and 0.5% from one week ago respectively. However， affected by the collective negotiations in the Southwest ports， ports in the USWC service sees effect declines， and area transport demand decreases as some cargo volume transfers to other ports. Some box liners relax on the freight rate in order to hike loading rate， with spot booking rate declining. In the USEC service， vessel spaces supply is short， with more than one service full loaded. Under the support of good loading rate， freight rate keeps on the level after rising.endprint

Transport demand keeps stable in the Persian Gulf service， where some box liners complement capacity control plan but fails to boost the average slot utilization rate， with spot rate  declining after increasing for two consecutive weeks. On Dec.26， freight rate in the China-Persian Gulf service （covering seaborne surcharges） quotes USD877/TEU， falling by 4.9% from last week.

In the Australia service， transport demand is flat. In order to improve the demand/supply condition， AADA calls for members to carry out service ceasing plan further， but less effective. The average slot utilization rate reaches to be 80% reluctantly， with spot rate falling. Doc.26， freight index in the China-Australia service tumbles 1.3% from one week ago to 815.38 points.

Cargo volume declines further in the Japan service， where the average slot utilization rate slips to be below 50%. On Dec.26， freight index in the China-Japan service quotes 642.94 points， falling by 2.4% against one week ago.

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

SHIPPING EXCHANGE

BULLETIN

TOTAL EDITION： 914

6/1/2015

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