Container Freight Rates Continue to Rise in the New Year... Increase Rate Slightly Slows Down

SCFI Index 2870.34... Weekly Record Highs Since November

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Je-hoon] Container ship freight rates continued to rise in the first week of the new year.

According to the shipping industry on the 9th, as of the 8th, the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) recorded 2,870.34, up 87.31 from the previous week. This marks the 13th consecutive week of rising international container ship freight rates since last October.

Freight rates increased on most routes, with the Europe route rising by $360 per TEU (a unit referring to one 6m container) to $4,452, showing the highest rate of increase among all routes. The Mediterranean route also rose by $12 to $4,298.

For the Americas routes, both the West Coast and East Coast routes increased by $1 and $21 per FEU (a unit referring to one 12m container), respectively, reaching $4,019 and $4,750. The Americas routes, which drove the index increase last year, are showing signs of stabilization in freight rate hikes.

The causes of this freight rate increase include the normalization of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a recovery in consumer sentiment and consequent demand for inventory replenishment. The industry expects this upward trend to likely continue until February, influenced by events such as the Chinese Lunar New Year.

An industry official stated, "Although the overall cargo volume has not yet recovered to pre-COVID-19 levels," he added, "global shipping companies have undergone mergers and acquisitions for internal restructuring, and supply adjustments are being well managed, so drastic freight rate drops are expected to remain limited going forward."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.