Container rates skyrocket on major east-west trades

Spot container rates from Shanghai to Northwest Europe and the Mediterranean rose by 115.0 percent and 146.5 percent, respectively, last Thursday compared to Friday, Dec. 25.    Spot container rates increased to a reading of 836.96 last Thursday compared to the Dec. 25 reading of 488.68, according to estimates released by the Shanghai Shipping Exchange’s Shanghai Containerized Freight Index.
   Rates from Shanghai to Northwest Europe increased 115.0 percent last Thursday compared to Dec. 25, from $573 per TEU to $1,232 per TEU, while rates from Shanghai to the Mediterranean rose 146.5 percent, from $510 per TEU to $1,257 per TEU.
   Major ocean carriers including Maersk Line, CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd increased rates from Asia to North Europe and the Mediterranean, effective Jan 1.
   Rates from Shanghai to the U.S. West Coast increased 98.2 percent week-over-week, from $766 per forty-foot container (FEU) Dec. 25 to $1,518 per FEU last Thursday, while rates from Shanghai to the U.S. East Coast rose 76.5 percent, from $1,448 per FEU to $2,555 per FEU.