Container exports from China were sluggish in the week of 17 February, as there were delays in the resumption of operations at factories due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, with the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) for the week in question falling 2.5% to 887.72 points.
On the trade lane to Europe, the supply-demand balance worsened, lowering the spot rate from Shanghai 1.9% to US$834 per TEU. To the Mediterranean, the rate sank 5.2% to US$977 per TEU, although tonnage supply halved.
Demand only recovered slowly on the route to North America. The freight rate for containerised shipments destined to the east coast declined 3.1% to US$2,683 per FEU, while the rate for those to the east coast decreased nearly as much, going down 3.9% to US$1,367 per FEU.
Container movement to the Middle East Gulf remained dull, with the freight rate declining 5.7% to US$1,027 per TEU. Those for containers bound for Australia/New Zealand and South America both fell by 3.3% to US$863 per TEU and 7.4% to US$1,711 per TEU, respectively.
On the route to Japan, demand weakened mildly, but the freight rates for containers to Kansai managed to improve 4.1% to US$224 per TEU, and for those to Kanto, 3.9% to US$239 per TEU.
Source: JIFFA
