The transport of a 40-foot container on a spot basis from Shanghai to Northern Europe became nearly 12% more expensive last week. The average rate increased from $6,100 to $6,818 per FEU in just one week.

In just five weeks, spot rates in that shipping route have surged by 73%. This sharp increase is partly attributed to several ‘General Rate Increases’ implemented by some carriers. The fact that there has been a weekly rise in rates further confirms that market sentiment has shifted in favor of the major shipping lines.

Santos
The demand for shipping space exceeds the available TEU capacity because carriers have had to deploy significant tonnage to reroute east-west services via the Cape of Good Hope. With the global vessel shortage being felt across the board, spot rates on all routes from Shanghai are rising rapidly.

Transports from Shanghai to New York became 7.6% more expensive last week. The steepest increases were seen on routes to Africa, with a 16.2% rate hike for cargo to Lagos and a 15.5% increase for shipments to Durban.

The most expensive rate currently is for the Shanghai-Santos route, where the average spot rate has now surpassed $7,000 per TEU. Prices on this route have been rising for ten consecutive weeks. In mid-March, the spot rate for this port combination was ‘only’ $2,530. This represents an increase of 179% on that route.

Source: Flows