Published on： 2022-09-13
1) The third quarter of each year is often the peak season of the global shipping industry, but this year's peak season, the shipping market does not feel the heat of the past two years; Freight rates on major maritime trade routes have been falling all the way, because cargo owners have delivered goods early and inflation has suppressed consumer demand.
According to the FBX index released by the Baltic Air Transport Exchange, the freight of 40 foot containers from China to the west coast of the United States is currently about usd4800 per container, which has dropped by more than 60% compared with January. The container freight from China to northern Europe also dropped to usd9100, about 40% lower than at the beginning of this year.
2) According to Japan's [Nikkei Shimbun] report on August 27, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating the decline of the competitiveness of Japanese ports. Under the long-term turbulence of maritime logistics, shipping companies are reluctant to invest in Japanese ports with less cargo volume.
In 2021, the number of container ships calling at major ports in Japan hit a new low since 2000. With the reduction of the number of direct routes to major ports in the United States, shippers had to turn to international hub ports such as South Korea for transportation, and the number of predicted days in Hannan also surfaced.
