Container Ship Freight Rates Fall for the First Time in 21 Weeks... Over $700 Drop in Trans-Pacific Route

SCFI Index 4614.10
Down 29.69 Points Compared to Last Week
Stable for 3 Weeks on the US West Coast

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI), which had been hitting record highs for 20 consecutive weeks, has stopped its upward trend and declined.

According to the shipping industry on the 2nd, the SCFI, a representative index that aggregates freight rates for 15 container shipping routes, recorded 4,614.10 points as of the previous day, down 29.69 points from the previous week. This marks the first decline in the SCFI index in 21 weeks.

The East Coast North America route, a major route for domestic export companies, fell by $726 to $11,250 per 1FEU (12-meter container) compared to the previous week. The West Coast North America route also remained flat for the third consecutive week at $6,322 per 1FEU.

During the same period, the Europe route dropped by $13 to $7,538 per 1TEU (6-meter container) compared to the previous week. Freight rates for the Australia-New Zealand route also decreased by $37 to $4,405 per 1TEU compared to the previous week.

The Middle East and Mediterranean routes continued their weakness for the second consecutive week. The Middle East route recorded $3,862 per 1TEU, down $63 from the previous week, and the Mediterranean route closed at $7,444, down $54 during the same period.

On the other hand, the Asia-South America route was the only one to rise, recording $10,222, up $27 from the previous week.

Shipping experts, however, view the halt in the SCFI’s 21-week rise as a temporary adjustment, expecting the upward trend to continue for the time being.

The securities industry also analyzed that the upward trend will continue until the end of this year due to increased cargo volume caused by the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant and ongoing port congestion at major global ports such as those in North America.

A securities industry official said, "With the peak season approaching, including Black Friday at the end of the year, it will be difficult to expand supply such as container ships in a short period, so a strong freight rate is inevitable."

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