Freight rates dropped as sluggish demand performance

　　In this week, China's export container shipping market was slightly sluggish. As the rush cargoes for Christmas has come to an end, transportation demand was seen to fall on most shipping routes. The composite index fell as weak performance of spot rates on those routes. On November 30th, Shanghai (Export) Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) issued by Shanghai Shipping Exchange (SSE) quoted 890.41 points, down by 1.5% from previous week.

　　In the Europe route, according to the monthly employment report released by the German Federal Labor Office on the 29th, Germany’s unemployment rate in November was 5%, down 0.1 percentage points from the previous month, indicating a healthy level of German’s economy, which supporting the stable performance of transportation demand. Although the peak shipping period for Christmas cargo flows came to an end, the overall cargo volume remained at a high level, and the supply-and-demand fundamentals kept in healthy condition. This week, the average slot utilization rate ex Shanghai remained above 90%. The spot market rate was slightly increased.  On November 30th, freight rate in the route from Shanghai to Europe (including seaborne related surcharges) was quoted USD747/TEU, up by 1.2% from one week ago. In the Mediterranean route, the market situation was almost same as the European route, and the average slot utilization rate ex Shanghai was about 90%. The spot market rate increased slightly. On November 30th, freight rate in the route from Shanghai to Mediterranean (including seaborne related surcharges) was quoted USD783/TEU, up by 3.7% from last week ago.

　　In the North America route, according to the latest data released by Markit, the initial value of Manufacturing PMI in the United States in November was 55.4, a decrease of 0.3 from the previous value, indicating economic performance got softer. Also it put negative effect on the growth of transportation demand. Anyway, the cargo volume still remained stable in this week. By additional capacity deploying, the tight space situation has eased. The average slot utilization rate ex Shanghai was down to 90% ~ 95%. Affected by this, the booking rate dropped. On November 30th, freight rates in the routes from Shanghai to USWC and USEC (including seaborne related surcharges) was quoted USD2190/FEU and USD3403/FEU, down by 2.5% and 6.8% respectively compared to last week.

　　In the Persian Gulf route, shipping demand kept stable within recent period. By carriers’ continuous operation on space contracting measures, the supply and demand relationship remained in relatively balance level. This week, the average slot utilization rate ex Shanghai was about 90%. The spot market rate rose slightly. On November 30th, freight rate in the Shanghai to Persian Gulf route (including seaborne related surcharges) was quoted USD518/TEU, up by 1.0% from previous week.

　　In the Australia/New Zealand route, the traditional peak season was almost close to an end, shipping market performed weaker as shipping demand sliding. Even some operators continued to control the scale space supply, still the supply-and-demand relationship has not improved. This week, the average slot utilization rate ex Shanghai dropped to 85%, and spot market rates fell sharply. On November 30th, freight rate in the Shanghai to Australia/New Zealand route (including seaborne related surcharges) was quoted USD564/TEU, greatly down by 10.8% against one week ago.

　　In the South America route, as the cargo volume slid week by week, the market freight rate performance got softer. Carrier’s effort on limitation of overall space supply didn’t make sense, and the imbalance of supply and demand got worse. This week, the average slot utilization rate ex Shanghai was about 85%. The market freight rate continued to decline drastically. On November 30th, freight rate in the Shanghai-South America route (including seaborne related surcharges) was quoted USD771/TEU, sharply decreased by 22.6% compared to last week.

　　In the Japan route, shipping demand maintained stable, and market rate slightly dropped. On November 30th, freight index in the China to Japan route quoted 702.52 points, down by 1.5% compared with last week.