Weekly Commentary on China Containerized Transportation

Liu+Zijia

In the week ending April 30， China export box market sees transport demand improving， but general market slip. On April 30， China （Export） Containerized Freight Index （CCFI） issued by Shanghai Shipping Exchange （SSE） quotes 898.97 points， down by 3.0% from one week ago. However， owing that most box liners push another round of freight rate increase plan， spot rate in some services has a remarkable increase. On April 30， Shanghai （Export） Containerized Freight Index （CCFI） issued by SSE grows by 8.3% from last week to 761.02 points.

In the Europe service， European economy keeps weak， which drags down the transport demand. Capacity still on the oversupply condition and the average slot utilization rate hovers at around 85%， with some even below 70%. Under this circumstance， most box liners delay freight rate increase plan which was planed to carry out in late April originally， and the lowest freight rate is around USD200 per TEU. On April 30， fright rate in the Shanghai-Europe service （covering seaborne surcharges） quotes USD343 per TEU， falling by 1.7% from one week ago. In the Mediterranean service， where cargo volume improves slightly， box liners reinforce capacity limit measures， and demand/supply relationship improves. The average slot utilization rate in the Mediterranean service rises to be 90% around， with some even nearly 95%. On April 30， freight rate in the Shanghai-Mediterranean service （covering seaborne surcharges） surges by 43.7% to USD684 per TEU.

In the North America service， as the firmly recovery of U.S. economy， transport demand keeps increasing stably. In the USWC service， some domestic cargo owners begin to enforce shipment space. As a result， transport demand rises firmly in the USWC service， where the average slot utilization rate climbs to be 90% above， with spot rate rebounding. On April 30， freight rate in the Shanghai-USWC service （covering seaborne surcharges） quotes USD1783 per FEU， having a week-on-week increase of 11.7%. ?Cargo volume keeps growing in the USEC service， but fails to overweight the addition of capacity， finally， the unbalanced demand/supply condition gets worsens， and freight rate increase plan have to be extended， with spot rate slipping further. On April 30， freight rate in the Shanghai-USEC service （covering seaborne surcharges） quotes USD3605 per FEU， down by 1.1% against last week.

Cargo volume keeps flat in the Australia service， where the average slot utilization rate keeps at around 85%. Spot rate bottoms up， with some even at around USD300 per TEU. On April 30， freight index in the China-Australia/New Zealand service falls by 1.6% from one week ago to 731.64 points.endprint

In the Persian Gulf service， cargo volume increases stably. Box liners begin to carry out tonnage limit measures since mid April， leading demand/supply condition improving repeatedly. The average slot utilization rate hovering between 85%-90%， with spot rate rebounding. On April 30， freight rate in the Shanghai-Persian Gulf service （covering seaborne surcharges） quotes USD727 per TEU， rising by 11.3% from one week ago.

Cargo volume begins to slip in the Japan service， where the average slot utilization rate keeps at around 55%， with spot rate stable. On April 30， freight index in the China-Japan service quotes 650.40 points.

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

SHIPPING EXCHANGE

BULLETIN

TOTAL EDITION： 931

12/5/2015

CONTENT FOR THIS WEEK

?Analysis on the 2014 Market Value List of Chinese

Port， Shipping and Shipbuilding Companies

?Container Market Presents Multiple Performances

?Dry Bulk Transport Firms Far away from Improving

Sign

?Tanker Shipping Companies Are Embracing Dawn

?Port Firms Seek for Effectiveness

?Offshore Companies Post Profit Outstanding on the

Shipbuilding Sectorendprint