Container rates to Northwest Europe drop dramatically

Spot container rates from Shanghai to Northwest Europe this week saw the largest single week drop ever recorded on the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index.    Overall spot container rates as measured by the Shanghai Shipping Exchange’s Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) have dropped 8.8 percent from last Friday to a reading of 749.62.
   Rates from Shanghai to Northwest Europe dropped from $1,109 per TEU to $833 per TEU, the largest single weekly decline ever recorded on the SCFI, according to Richard Ward, a container derivatives broker at Freight Investor Services in London. Results reflected a weak market, despite the supposed peak season, said Ward.
   Rates from Shanghai to the Mediterranean dropped from $1,119 per TEU to $879 per TEU.
   In addition, rates from Shanghai to the U.S. West Coast dropped from $1,607 per FEU to $1,542 per FEU, while rates from Shanghai to the U.S. East Coast dropped from $3,050 per FEU to $2,985 per FEU.
   Although carriers were unable to maintain last week’s container rate increases, which resulted from the Aug. 1 GRI’s, both Hapag-Lloyd ($1,000 per TEU) and NYK ($970 per TEU and $1,940 per FEU) will increase rates from Asia to the Europe and the Mediterranean, effective Sept. 1.