A Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide report dated March 20 noted that the Shanghai Container Freight Index closed in the green for a fourth consecutive week by closing on Friday 16th at 1223, up by 5% on a weekly basis.
The trans-Pacific routes (Asia-US West Coast and Asia-US East Coast), paved the way for the rising of the index.
The other main-haul trading routes, Asia-Europe and Asia-Mediterranean are sliding from the beginning of March but standing above US$1 000/TEU.
The Shanghai Container Freight Index is standing up by 27% from February 10th, when it was at 965 points - with the Asia-Europe paying US$1 379/TEU from US$721/TEU and Asia-Mediterranean route US$1 385/TEU from US$758/TEU.
On a weekly basis, Asia-Europe and Asia-Mediterranean routes have shown moderate declines of 1%. But the outlook remains negative even with the general rate increases (GRIs) applied by liner operators, because the additional capacity tonnage still poses serious pain, along with increased bunker expenses.
