Spot container rates fall again on China-Europe routes

Rates on routes from Shanghai to the United States, on the other hand, rebounded from last week, according to estimates from the Shanghai Shipping Exchange.    Spot container freight rates continued to fall on routes from China to Europe and the Mediterranean, but rebounded to the U.S., according to estimates from the Shanghai Shipping Exchange on Friday.
   The components for the exchange’s Shanghai Containerized Freight Index, in which panelists estimate spot rates for the cost of moving containers from Shanghai to different regions, showed the rate from Shanghai to Northwest Europe dropping $102 from last Friday to $342 per TEU and from Shanghai to the Mediterranean dropping $115 to $466 per TEU. The SCFI rates from Shanghai to the U.S. West Coast were up $114 to $1,526 per 40 foot container (FEU) and to the U.S. East Coast up $75 to $3,216 per FEU.
   Richard Ward a container derivatives broker at Freight Investor Services in London, said in the trade to Northwest Europe “this latest fall has pushed rates on the trade to yet another all-time low highlighting once again the fundamental weakness in the market.
   “Carriers had previously planned a GRI for the June 1 of between $800-$1,000 per TEU, however this week’s decline on the index suggests their latest attempt to boost rates has fallen flat,” he said. “Year to date, the average rate on the trade now stands at just $724 compared with $1,292 per TEU reported during the same period a year earlier. This 44 percent decline indicates how quickly market rates can deteriorate with the continued demand/supply imbalance.”