The shipping market continues to be hot, and global shipping prices are rising.

According to data from Clarkson Research, a British shipbuilding and shipping market analysis agency, on June 10, the average value of the Clarkson Shipping Index in May reached US$24,960 per day, the highest monthly average since September 2008.

This is the eighth consecutive month that the Clarkson Shipping Index has risen month-on-month, and it is the longest upward trend since 2000.

The Clarkson research report stated that the continued strength of the container ship and bulk carrier freight market is the main driving force behind the rising maritime index.

This year, under the continuous influence of strong demand for container trade, hindered logistics and shortage of containers, container freight rates have hit a record high.

According to data from the Shanghai Shipping Exchange, as of June 4, the composite index of China's export container freight rate was 2373.77, an increase of 3.4% from the previous week and a record high. This is an increase of 183.35% from the freight index of 837.74 at the trough in May last year.

In terms of different routes, the freight index of Poland, Europe, Mediterranean, East America and West America routes all reached new highs, with the highest month-on-month increase.

According to the Drewry World Container Index released this week by the international logistics consulting company Drewry, the current 40-foot container freight from Shanghai to Rotterdam has risen to US$10,174, surpassing US$10,000 for the first time, a year-on-year increase of approximately 485%.

The container freight rate from Shanghai to Rotterdam soared nearly five times, and the global ocean freight price hit a 12-year high

The China-Thailand Securities Research Report stated that the recent high rise in container freight rates is mainly due to the steady and steady improvement in epidemic prevention and control in European and American countries with the widespread use of vaccines, and good market transportation demand.

At the same time, due to the previous Suez Canal blockage incident and the impact of the epidemic, the shipping schedule is disordered, the port's tight manpower supply has led to inefficient loading and unloading, and the stagnant port of some transportation capacity has led to a low container turnover rate, and the supply of China's export container capacity is tight.

The world's largest container shipping company Maersk (Maersk) stated in a customer consultation report released on June 9 that due to serious congestion at the US terminals, the company's shipping schedule may be delayed by 7-8 days.

Maersk pointed out that if ships are delayed for two to three weeks in the United States, Asian ports will encounter the dilemma of three ships arriving at the port at the same time. Maersk estimates that the Western US Route will lose 16% of its capacity due to port congestion by the end of June, and 13% of its capacity will be lost by the end of August.

Maersk warned that, to make matters worse, this year's US line peak season may start early, because retailers are preparing for a strong back-to-school season, which may overlap with the summer peak season.

Maersk believes that under the condition that the supply of transportation capacity is already extremely tight, the early arrival of the peak season will put more pressure on the transportation network and may cause the supply chain to be disrupted.

Since the second half of last year, container freight rates have started a strong upward trend. At the end of last year, the Shanghai Export Container Freight Index was 2129.26, a new high since the 2008 financial crisis.

Entering 2021, container freight rates show no signs of slowing down, and container shortages and warehouse explosions have further pushed up freight rates.

Source: Port Circle