Will Container Freight Rates Normalize in the Second Half? ... Shipping Stocks on Alert

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] Due to the impact of COVID-19 and the Suez Canal incident, container shipping rates soared to unprecedented levels in the first half of the year, but there is cautious speculation that they may be adjusted in the second half.

According to SK Securities on the 4th, schedule reliability, which shows how well global shipping companies adhered to their sailing schedules, was around 38.8% in May. This is a significant drop compared to 74.8% during the same period last year. Last month, the partial closure of the Yantian Port in Shenzhen, southern China, also suggests a high possibility of further decline.

The indicator showing how many days ships were delayed compared to the schedule in May was 5.86 days, a higher level than the average year. Since the beginning of this year, the number of days ships have been delayed upon arrival has consistently been higher than the same period last year. However, it is explained that this is a considerable improvement compared to 6.96 days in February.

Yoo Seung-woo, a researcher at SK Securities, analyzed, "The Suez Canal situation has been normalized, and with Yantian Port entering normalization, the imbalance in container box supply and demand has significantly eased compared to last year, so the possibility of container shipping rates being adjusted in the second half of the year is gradually increasing."

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