Spot container rates sink after two straight weeks of growth

Rates from Shanghai to Northwest Europe and the Mediterranean dropped, while rates to the United States remained flat compared to last week.    Spot container rates as measured by the Shanghai Shipping Exchange’s Shanghai Containerized Freight Index dropped 6.4 percent this week to a reading of 673.25. The overall index had gone up for two straight weeks prior to Friday’s reading, reaching 718.97 at the end of last week.
   Rates from Shanghai to Northwest Europe fell from $763 per TEU to $588 per TEU. Rates on this trade are 44 percent lower from the corresponding period last year, Richard Ward, a container derivatives broker at Freight Investor Service in London, said.
   “More worryingly for carriers it’s clear to see from the longer term trends that rate deflation shows no sign of relenting on either the Asia-North Europe or Asia-USWC trades,” said Ward. “This downward pressure continues to place pressure on carriers to reduce unit costs through the increasing of average vessel sizes and lower unit costs.”
   Rates from Shanghai to the Mediterranean dropped from $865 per TEU to $613 per TEU.
   Rates from Shanghai to the U.S. West Coast rose from $1,456 per 40-foot container (FEU) to $1,461 per FEU, while rates from Shanghai to the U.S. East Coast dropped from $2,672 per FEU to $2,670 per FEU.