Weekly Commentary on China Containerized Transportation

Liu+Zijia

In the week ending Sep.18， China export box market sees demand stable in general， but the unbalanced demand/supply condition in ocean-going services is outstanding，leading spot rate too weak to improve. On Sep.18， China （Containerized） Freight Index （CCFI） issued by Shanghai Shipping Exchange （SSE） quotes 827.16 points， almost in line with that in last week; while Shanghai （Containerized） Freight Index （SCFI） has a week-on-week decrease of 7.5% to 622.60 points.

In the Europe service， dragged down by the unsatisfactory recovery of economy in Euro zone， transport demand is too weak to increase. The average slot utilization rate hovers between 85% and 90%， with some even below 80%. As a result， box liners have to extend or cancel freight rate increase plan that originated in the second half of this month， leading spot rate slip depressively. On Sep.18， freight rate in the service from Shanghai to Europe quotes USD456 per TEU， diving by 22.4% from one week ago. Transport demand sees no increase in the Mediterranean service， where the average slot utilization rate keeps only 80%. On Sep.18， freight rate in the service from Shanghai to Mediterranean has a week-on-week slip of 26.9% to USD448 per TEU.

U.S. economy has a stable growth， and transport demand rises firmly in the North America service. In the USWC service， impacted by rising demand in the receipt region and backflow from USEC service， transport demand grows slightly， the average slot utilization rate keeps at above 90%， with some even bypass 95%. In the USEC service， the average slot utilization rate falls to be around 85%. And most box liners cancel the plan to hike freight rate this week， causing spot rate keeping falling. On Sep.18， freight indices in the USWC and USEC services quote 863.22 points and 1128.79 points， down by 1.8% and 1.5% from last week respectively.

In the Persian Gulf service， cargo volume having no increase， the average slot utilization rate hovers around 85%. Most box liners extend freight rate increase plan from the second half of this year， with spot rate declining. On Sep.18， freight rate in the Shanghai to Persian Gulf service quotes USD350 per TEU， falling by 3.0% from one week ago.

Cargo volume rebounds slightly in the Australia service， but the capacity has no shrink， therefore， the average slot utilization rate in this service hovers at around 90%， with spot rate slip. On Sep.18， freight index in the China-Australia service quotes 597.56 points， falling by 1.7% from last week.

In Brazil， transport demand is far away from sufficient in the East coast of South America service， where the average slot utilization keeps at around 60%， and spot rate keeps falling， with some even below USD100 per TEU; cargo volume is also dispositive in the West coast this service， whilst， the average slot utilization rate rebounds to be around 90%， and spot rate keeps stable at the lower level. On Sep.18， freight index in the China to South America service quotes 377.55 points， down by 1.9% from one week ago.

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

SHIPPING EXCHANGE

BULLETIN

TOTAL EDITION： 951

29/9/2015

CONTENT FOR THIS WEEK

?Shanghai FTZ Boosts Innovation in the Shipping

Industry

?It ?Is ?Time ?to ?Optimize ?Ecological ?Chain ?in ?the

Cruise Industry

?Anhui Wanjiang Logistics Enters into Energy Sector

?Conglin， the President of ICBC Leasing， Makes an

Analysis on the Newly-Published Guidance

?Three Chinese Companies Cooperate to Acquire

Kumport Terminal in Turkey

?Hainan Strait Shipping Co. Ltd. Eyes on Port and

Shipping Assets

If you have any comments or questions， please contact the E-mail ： ssebu_editor@sse.net.cn or ssebu@sse.net.cn.