In the first week of the new year, geopolitical risks are still the main test facing the current export container shipping market. Tensions in the Red Sea region have not been alleviated, freight rates in the Asia-Europe route market continue to rise, and the composite index is rising. On January 5, the Shanghai Export Container Comprehensive Freight Index released by the Shanghai Shipping Exchange was 1896.65 points, an increase of 7.8% from the previous issue.
In Europe-European routes, tensions in the Red Sea region continue to simmer. Armed attacks on transport ships occurred again this week. Some shipping companies that had originally announced the resumption of sailings in the Red Sea region postponed the decision. At present, Asia-Europe routes are facing greater uncertainty, and we need to focus on subsequent changes in the geopolitical situation in the future. Market freight rates continue to rise this week. On January 5, the market freight rates (sea freight and sea freight surcharges) exported from Shanghai Port to European and Mediterranean basic ports were US$2,871/TEU and US$3,620/TEU, up 6.6% and 3.7% respectively from the previous period.
For North American routes, according to the U.S. ADP employment report, U.S. ADP employment increased by 164,000 people in December, which was better than the previous value and market expectations, hitting a new high since August 2023. This data shows that the job market still has a certain degree of resilience, supporting the US economy to maintain a solid performance, which has a certain supporting effect on the demand for North American route transportation. The transportation demand on North American routes is generally stable, and the relationship between supply and demand is good. Driven by the increase in freight rates on other routes, booking prices in the spot market continued to rise this week. On January 5, the market freight rates (sea freight and sea freight surcharges) exported from Shanghai Port to the basic ports in the West and East US were US$2,775/FEU and US$3,931/FEU respectively, up 8.7% and 10.5% respectively from the previous period.
In the Persian Gulf route, transportation demand remains stable and supply and demand are balanced. Affected by the tension in the Red Sea region, the market freight rates of this route have continued to rise recently. On January 5, the market freight rate (shipping and shipping surcharges) exported from Shanghai Port to the basic ports of the Persian Gulf was US$2,338/TEU, an increase of 14.3% from the previous period.
On the Australia-New Zealand route, the local demand for various materials continues to be at a high level, the fundamentals of supply and demand are solid, and market freight rates continue to rise this week. On January 5, the market freight rate (sea freight and sea freight surcharges) exported from Shanghai Port to Australia and New Zealand basic ports was US$1,084/TEU, an increase of 3.1% from the previous period.
For South American routes, the main destination countries have stable economies, recent transportation demand has maintained growth, and the relationship between supply and demand is good. Spot booking prices continue to rise this week. On January 5, the market freight rate (shipping and shipping surcharges) exported from Shanghai Port to South America's basic ports was US$2,901/TEU, an increase of 3.9% from the previous period.
On Japan routes, transportation demand remained stable and market freight rates fell slightly. On January 5, the freight index for China's export route to Japan was 726.14 points.