There is no sluggish season and no discounts as demand from Asia remains high
Shippers have abandoned the possibility that spot container freight rates from Asia will remain as high as they are now for some time after the Lunar New Year.
The current time is the beginning of the Lunar New Year, which usually takes place for a few weeks with the pressure to reduce the rates, but so far there is no sign of a slumping season appearing in the first half of Tet. .
“After a year of so much turmoil, there’s a little more certainty in 2021 – one thing we can say for certain is that there will be no sluggish season,” said Brian Bourke, Seko Logistics’ development director.
- In fact, ocean carriers serving Asia – Europe and Asia – US shipping routes are reporting huge backlog of goods that have been booked to wait for shipping after the Chinese New Year.
- “We are full of space,” Maersk’s CEO – Soren Skou – said this week.
- “We’re flooding booking,” said Hapag Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jensen last week.
The Freightos Baltic Index’s current Asia-Nordic Transit Rate Index (Freightos Baltic Index) rose 1%, to $ 7,939 per 40-foot container, when facing Mediterranean locations, the number fell 4%, down to $ 7,764 per 40-foot container.
It seems unstable that 12 months ago, spot rates for the Nordic service were only around $ 1,600 and for the Mediterranean service at only $ 1,800, both of which reduced the factors when Canh Ty year begins on May 25, 2020.
A UK-based NVOCC shipping company told The Loadstar this week that he heard “good news” that short-term rates from Asia are “stabilizing.”
- “Looks like we should be happy that freight rates are stably stable at these ridiculously high levels,” he said.
- “I just commented that shipping lines are shooting themselves in the leg if they let the price stay at this high for much longer, as I already know about some of the customers canceling orders at the end of the year because they cannot maintain the maintain such a large increase in shipping costs ”
- Furthermore, freight rates from China to the UK are actually much higher than the spot market index.
- “Right now, a 40ft container will cost upwards of $ 12,000 for sea freight alone,” UK-based Westbound Logistics announced its customers this week.
- Meanwhile, on the trans-Pacific service, the volume of cargo containers pouring into the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach has not decreased.
- Indeed, the Port of Los Angeles’ s import forecast according to Signal data is 173,622 TEUs expected to arrive at the port next week, 130% more than the same week of 2020, and is expected to arrive at the port next week. next week at 139,400 TEUs, 224% higher than the previous year.
However, ships arriving in San Pedro Bay will be engaged in a long line of ships trying to secure landing. According to Signal data, the average time for anchoring is up to 8 days.
- “Our imported supply chain is completely broken and disconnected,” said Jon Monroe, of Washington State-based Jon Monroe Consulting. “Sustained throughput and port congestion have taken factory deliveries to nine weeks compared to just four to five weeks ago,” Freightos added.
- “The FBX index for Asia – US West Coast increased 1% to $ 4,334 for 40ft containers, while rates to the US East Coast were unchanged at $ 5,739 for a 40ft container. Trans-Pacific to West Coast rates. The United States is 210% higher than a year ago, and East Coast rates are up 113% from 12 months ago.
Source PT
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