Container freight rates declined again last week following a brief rebound, according to two of the primary indices tracking spot market rates.
The Shanghai Shipping Exchange’s composite Shanghai Containerized Freight Index, which measures spot rates on 13 different outbound trades from Shanghai, fell 3.2 percent last week, while the World Container Index, produced by London-based maritime shipping consultant Drewry, slipped 1.1 percent from a week prior.
The SCFI’s Friday reading of 753.83 also was down 9.3 percent from 830.80 as of May 19, 2017, while at $1,367 per FEU, the WCI was 8.9 percent lower than at this time last year.
Pricing had been on the decline for several weeks after the Lunar New Year holidays in Asia, but seemed to be stabilizing, with both the SCFI and WCI gaining ground two weeks ago.
According to the SCFI, rates from Shanghai to Europe slid 2.2 percent last week, from $811 per TEU to $793 per TEU, while rates from Shanghai to the Mediterranean bucked the overall trend, growing 12 percent, from $783 per TEU to $795 per TEU.
Rates from Shanghai to the U.S. West Coast dropped 5.4 percent, from $1,382 per FEU to $1,308 per FEU, while rates to the U.S. East Coast slipped 1.4 percent, from $2,364 per FEU to $2,332 per FEU.
And according to Drewry, pricing from Shanghai to Rotterdam actually ticked up 2 percent from the previous week to $1,459 per FEU, but rates from Shanghai to Genoa fell 3 percent to $1,653 per FEU. Despite the sequential growth on the Asia-North Europe trade, however, rates were still down 19 percent from the same week a year ago, while Asia-Mediterranean rates were down 10 percent.
Eastbound transpacific rates from Shanghai to Los Angeles declined 1 percent from the previous week to $1,397 per FEU, and were still down 1 percent year-over-year, while pricing from Shanghai to New York slid 4 percent week-over-week but were actually up 1 percent from the same 2017 period at $2,472 per FEU.
At $1,972 per FEU, however, rates in the transatlantic trade remained in positive territory, stagnating from the previous week but rising 9 percent higher from this time last year.
With container carriers beginning to report less than stellar first quarter 2018 earnings, all eyes will be on the current rate situation, as questions remain regarding whether carriers will be able to increase rates, or at the very least maintain them, in order to remain profitable.
In its weekly analysis, Drewry said it expected rates to “soften” again next week, and if rates continue to fall, it could spell disaster for carriers, which last year saw a resurgence in profits following a calamitous 2016 in which the industry lost billions as overcapacity pushed rates to well below operating expenses.