Spot container rates return to ‘normal’

Spot rates as measured by the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index fell 10.7 percent after spiking upward last week.    Spot container rates as measured by the Shanghai Shipping Exchange’s Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) have returned to “normal” levels this week falling 10.7 percent or 79.43 points to $666.02 on July 10, according to the latest estimates from the Shanghai Shipping Exchange.
   Spot rates to Europe and the Mediterranean, which both increased in the prior two weeks, saw a sharp drop. Rates from Shanghai to Europe were down $180 per TEU to $699 per TEU and rates from Shanghai to the Mediterranean were down $204 per TEU to $737 per TEU.
   Rates from Shanghai to the United States West Coast were down $141 per 40-foot container (FEU) to $1,280 per FEU. Year-to-date, the Shanghai-USWC trade is down 29.8 percent compared with the same period in 2014.
   Spot rates from Shanghai to the U.S. East Coast were down $139 per FEU to $2,812 per FEU.
   “With carriers unable to maintain the latest GRI during a period in which cargo demand is supposed to be firmer, carriers should be concerned for the remainder of the year and in particular the slack season during Q4,” Richard Ward, a container derivatives broker at Freight Investor Services in London, said in a statement. “Rates year to date are in fact already 47% lower than the same period last year.”