Spot container rates down from last year

Carriers are aggressively slashing services, despite the approaching peak season.    The Shanghai Shipping Exchange’s Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI), which estimates spot container rates from Shanghai to 13 regions around the world, slipped 0.5 percent on Friday from last the prior week’s overall reading of 821.18 to a reading of 817.40.
   From Shanghai to Europe, spot container rates on Friday slipped 0.5 percent, from $885 per TEU to $881 per TEU, while from Shanghai to the Mediterranean, rates fell 1.1 percent, from $913 per TEU to $903 per TEU.
   On the Shanghai to the U.S. West Coast trade, spot container rates inched up 0.6 percent, from $1,545 per FEU to $1,555 per FEU, while rates from Shanghai to the U.S. East Coast rose 3.9 percent, from $2,524 per FEU to $2,623 per FEU.
   Meanwhile, the World Container Index (WCI) — a composite of container freight rates on eight major routes to/from the U.S. Europe and Asia — rose 6.5 percent last week from the week earlier, on the back of the proposed GRIs and emergency bunker charges, according to Drewry.
   Overall, 2018 appears to be shaping up to be a weaker year than last year for container carriers, with the SCFI clocking in 8 percent lower than in the first week of July 2017 and the WCI down 5 percent from the beginning of last July.
   Hapag-Lloyd even cut its earnings outlook for 2018, while carriers have been aggressive in slashing services, despite the peak season approaching.
   On the transpacific trade, the 2M Alliance suspended its TP1/New Eagle, while THE Alliance is scheduled to consolidate its PS5 and PS8 loops in the coming weeks.
   In addition, the OCEAN Alliance is slated to decrease its number of loops on the Asia-Middle East trade later this month by consolidating two of its loops on the Asia-Mideast trade.