Weekly Commentary on China Containerized Transportation

Liu+Zijia

In the week ending August 7， China export box transport market sees demand stable overall. Ocean-going services including Europe service experience transport demand arising， but spot rates in most services rise but then slip. On August 7， China Containerized （Export） Freight Index （CCFI） issued by Shanghai Shipping Exchange （SSE） quotes 798.89 points， down by 2.4% from one week ago; while Shanghai Containerized （Export） Freight Index （SCFI） issued by SSE slips by 8.8% from last week to 749.62 points.

Euro zone economy goes better. Transport demand in the Europe service rebounds slightly.Since the launch of mega vessels， most box liners strengthen service-ceasing measures in July， and the average slot utilization rate stands beyond 90%. On August 7， freight rate in the services from Shanghai to Europe and Mediterranean （covering seaborne surcharges） quote USD833 per TEU and USD879 per TEU， diving by 24.9% and 21.4% from one week ago respectively.

U.S. economy has kept improving stably since August， which hikes consumer demand. Transport demand in the North America service has a stable grow. In the USWC service， cargo volume increases stably， and the average slot utilization rate is between 90%-95%， with some even full loaded. It sees shipment rush in the USEC service， plus some part of cargo volume transferring to USEC ports， transport demand in this service goes north further， and the average slot utilization rate amounts to be above 95%.  On August 7， freight rate in the services from Shanghai to USWC and USEC （covering seaborne surcharges） quote USD1542 per FEU and USD2985 per FEU， down by 4.0% and 2.1% from one week ago respectively. It is said that some box liners intend to levy PSS by USD400-USD600 per FEU.

In the Australia service， as the decrease of Australian exchange， export orders slide repeatedly， which plagues sea-way transport market in this service， where the average slot utilization rate is only 80%. Freight rate dives after increasing， with some even around USD250 per TEU. On August 7， freight rate in the Shanghai to Australia service （covering seaborne surcharges） quotes USD348 per TEU， diving by 29.1% from one week ago.

In the South America service， plagued by the weak Brazilian economy， transport demand in the east coast is not hot， where the average slot utilization rate hovers between 70%-80%， and spot rate slide largely， with some even around USD325 per TEU; Cargo volume increases firmly in the west coast of this service， where the average slot utilization rate keeps at around 90%， with spot rate around USD700 per TEU. On August 7， freight index in the China-South America service quotes 412.58 points， down by 4.2% from one week ago.

Cargo volume decreases slightly in the Japan service， where the average slot utilization rate is below 60%， with spot rate stable. On Aug.7， freight index in the China-Japan service quotes 617.41 points.

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