Weekly Commentary on China Containerized Transportation

Zhu Pengzhou

In the week ending Jan.22， as the approach of Chinese New Year， China export box transport market sees demand rises slightly. However， despite the shipment rush before the holiday， most box liners choose to reduce freight rate for the sake of market share， with booking rate in most services slip further. On Jan.22， China （Export） Containerized Freight Index （CCFI） issued by Shanghai Shipping Exchange （SSE） quotes 785.11 points， up by 1.8% from one week ago; while Shanghai （Export） Containerized Freight Index （SCFI） issued by SSE falls by 9.5% from last week to 615.77 points.

As some core countries in the Europe see their economy indices shaking， transport demand in the Europe service increase， but not as much as expectation. The average slot utilization rate in this service has no remarkable growth. On Jan.22， freight rates in the services from Shanghai to Europe and Mediterranean （covering seaborne surcharges） quote USD545/TEU and USD629/TEU， tumbling by 26.4% and 27.6% from last week respectively.

In the North America service， impacted by the slower growth of economy， cargo volume increases， and the average slot utilization rate in this service hovers between 90% and 95%. Most box liners cancel freight rate increase plan， and spot rate fluctuates slightly. On Jan.22， freight rates in the services from Shanghai to USWC and USEC （covering seaborne surcharges） quote USD1377/FEU and USD2420/FEU， down by 2.8% and 1.5% comparing with that one week ago respectively.

In the Persian Gulf service， cargo volume has no remarkable growth， where the average slot utilization rate only stands around 80%. As the weak demand， freight rate increase plan have to be delayed， and fright rate tumbles further. On Jan.22， freight rate in the Shanghai-Persian Gulf service （covering seaborne surcharges） quote USD306/TEU， diving by 20.5% from one week ago.

Transport demand sees a small increase in the Australia service. Under the support of temporary ceasing service by box liners， the average slot utilization rate rebounds to near 90%. Demand/supply condition has some improvement， but the weak market condition has not been reversed， leading freight rate falling to keep stable. On Jan.22， freight rate in the Shanghai-Persian Gulf service e（covering seaborne surcharges） quote USD563/TEU， having a week-on-week decrease of 12%.

In the South America service， as the economy in main countries in the destination has no remarkable improvement， transport demand keeps weak， and the average slot utilization rate hovers around 70%.On Jan.22， freight rate in the Shanghai-South America service （covering seaborne surcharges） quote USD155/TEU， decreasing 23.6% from one week previously.

Cargo volume increases slightly in the Japan service， where the average slot utilization rate keeps at around 65%， with spot rate stable. On Jan.22， freight rate in the China-Japan service quotes 612.16 points.

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