Pause in Transpacific rate surge

SHANGHAI : Transpacific freight rates have corrected after rising for more than three months, as capacity additions have begun making an impact. When the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI) closed on 12 July, the Shanghai-US West Coast rate averaged US$7,645/FEU, down US$458 the previous week. The Shanghai-US East Coast rate decreased by a lower margin, to US$9,881/FEU, a dip of US$64 from the previous week.

Clarksons’ latest weekly report commented, “A mixed week for container freight markets, with the SCFI spot container freight rate index falling 2% week-on-week to 3,675 points, the first decline since late March, as additional capacity on the Transpacific allowed rates to soften there, though Far East-Europe rates saw further modest gains and the overall index remains more than double late March levels.”

Shanghai-North Europe rates went up by US$194 to US$5,051/TEU.

The surge in freight rates to levels not seen since the Covid-19 pandemic convinced operators to divert vessels to the Transpacific.

On 3 July, ZIM Line commenced its Central China Xpress (ZX2) service, connecting Shanghai, Ningbo and Los Angeles, assigning five 4,200 TEU vessels, after operating two extra loaders on the route in June.

ZIM will also tweak its eCommerce Xpress (ZEX) service, adding a call at Vietnam’s Cai Mep port from 16 July, its new rotation being Cai Mep-Yantian-Los Angeles. ZEX will have a 42-day turnaround and will be served by six ships of 4,200-5,500 TEU. The service previously offered calls at Cai Lan in North Vietnam, which will be dropped.

Additionally, MSC is relaunching its Mustang service, which was suspended in 2022 when the pandemic-induced boom faded. The Swiss-Italian operator has assigned six ships of 8,000 to 19,000 TEU to the service, which had to be postponed from 8 July to 18 July as the first vessel in the schedule, MSC Eloane, was held up by congestion in Singapore port. The Mustang service will connect Yantian, Ningbo and Shanghai to Long Beach.