Weekly Commentary on China Containerized Transportation

（July 27， 2015 - July 31， 2015）Zhu Pengzhou

In the week ending July 31， China export box transport market sees demand stable overall， but the whole market condition performs not good， which is impacted by the oversupply of capacity， with the comprehensive index slip slightly. On July 31， China （Containerized） Freight Index （CCFI） issued by Shanghai Shipping Exchange （SSE） quotes 818.85 points， down by 2.4% from last week. As box liners adhere to push up freight rate， booking rates in most ocean-going services grow largely. On July 31， Shanghai （Containerized） Freight Index （SCFI） that is issued by SSE surges by 49.9% from one week ago to be 822.39 points.

In the Europe service， as the recovery trend of local economy is dimly， the weak consumption dragged down the cargo volume. Enforced by the operational pressure， box liners have to carry out the trading ceasing measures further to limit capacity. The average slot utilization rates in the Europe and Mediterranean services rebound to around 90%. Spot rate has a large rebound this week. On July 31， freight rates in the services from Shanghai to Europe and Mediterranean （covering seaborne surcharges） quote USD1109/TEU and USD1119/TEU， jumping by 177.2% and 178.4% from one week ago.

In the North America service， transport demand increases stably， and some of cargo owners make shipment ahead to avoid transport cost rising. The rush shipment pushes loading rate up remarkably. The average slot utilization rates in the USWC and USEC services mount to near 95%. As a result， TSAs increasing freight rate plan is carried out smoothly， and booking rate has an evident increase. On July 31， freight rates in the services from Shanghai to USWC and USEC （covering seaborne surcharges） quote USD1607/FEU and USD3050/FEU， surging by 43.1% and 20.2% from last week respectively.

Transport demand keeps flat in the Australia service， where the average slot utilization rate declines to around 80%. However， most box liners hike freight rate， causing booking rate bottoming up. On July 31， freight rate in the Shanghai to Australia service （covering seaborne surcharges） has a week-by-week increase of 71.7% to USD491 per TEU.

In the South America service， the core economy including Brazilian stops improving， and the deep depreciation of currency hits import， then transport demand is dampened from arising. The average slot utilization rate in this service is below 80%. Considering that spot rate around USD200 per TEU makes pressure， part of box liners tries to hike freight rate. On July 31， freight index in the China-South America service quotes 430.85 points， up by 1.2% from one week ago.

Cargo volume rises slightly in the Japan service， where the average slot utilization rate keeps above 65%， with spot rate stable. On July 31， freight index in the China-Japan service quotes 618.45 points.

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