Gs4 Security: International Freighting Weekly

Sunday 6 January 2013

International Freighting Weekly

CONTAINER freight rates on all four major trade lanes declined last week, fuelling speculation that prices will remain soft for the rest of the year, according to an assessment from London's International Freighting Weekly.

According to the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index, rates on services from Shanghai to Europe slipped by US$39 to reach $1,342 per TEU on January 14, compared with January 7, while rates to the Mediterranean fell by $21 to $1,212 per TEU.Over the same period, prices on services to the US west coast were down $39 to $1,977 per FEU and on services to the east coast were down $42 to $3,198 per FEU.The rates fell despite the Shanghai Shipping Exchange estimate that ships on the Asia-Europe and transpacific trades were sailing with a utilisation rate of around 90 per cent.There is speculation among container derivatives brokers that predictions of a year of stable rates may have been premature and that rates may continue to decline.Broker Freight Investor Services said: "Uncertainty over how firm rates will be in the short term, with carrier rate increases failing on both Europe and US routes and doubt over their ability to resist chasing market share later in the year as new tonnage comes on stream, is fuelling speculation that rates will be soft for most of the year.