The combined effect of the disruption caused by the Houthi attacks on the Red Sea and the arrival of the peak season in the maritime transport sector - which corresponds to the period from late summer to autumn, when companies in the West begin to fill warehouses in preparation for Christmas - are pushing freight rates for the transport of containers by ship to the heights reached in the post-Covid period. This is the assessment of Sea Intelligence, one of the most highly rated analysis companies globally, which predicts an increase in transport costs for the summer that will bring maritime freight rates (at least spot ones, i.e. those not tied to long-term contracts) to reach the ceiling of 20 thousand dollars per 40-foot container on the route between Asia and Europe.<\/p>\n
Already now many shippers are moving forward , looking for hold on ships, which ask for higher amounts due to the need to circumnavigate Africa, and this is pushing rates upwards. Spot freight rates, experts warn, should reach 21,600 dollars per 40-foot container on the Shanghai-Genoa route - during the pandemic they had reached 14 thousand dollars on the Asia-Europe route. The Sea Intelligence analysis, it must be said, starts from the indexation of freight rates per nautical mile traveled. If we were to reach pandemic levels, i.e. 1.60 euros per mile on the route between Asia and the Mediterranean Sea and taking into account the circumnavigation of Africa, we would in fact break through the 20 thousand dollar ceiling.<\/p>\n
The Shanghai-Genoa route , after last week's double-digit boom, has currently seen freight rates rise by 3% to $6,862 per 40-foot container. The period is in short volatile, and alongside Sea Intelligence's forecasts, there are those like Drewry who actually predict a cooling in the second half of the month. The four factors to keep an eye on will be hold availability (it should be remembered that by the end of the year new ships for three million TEUs will enter the fleet, of which one million have already been delivered by the shipyards), demand (so far in fact higher than forecast), the attitude of shippers, who as seen are trying to be cautious and book spaces to avoid delays and other setbacks that have now become habitual in the sector. The dysfunctions themselves (for example the threatened mega-strike on the West Coast of the USA) are in fact the fourth factor influencing freight rates according to Drewry.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The combined effect of the disruption caused by the Houthi attacks on the Red Sea and the arrival of the peak season in the maritime transport sector – which corresponds to the period from late summer to autumn, when companies … Continue reading