[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Je-hoon] Despite the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, container ship freight rates continue to rise sharply day by day.
According to the shipping industry on the 28th, the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI), which serves as an indicator of international container ship freight rates, recorded 2048.27 as of the 27th. This is an increase of 109.95 points compared to the previous week, marking the first time since the related statistics began in October 2009 that the index has surpassed the 2000 mark.
The routes leading the freight rate increase this week were Europe and the Mediterranean. Freight rates on the Europe and Mediterranean routes rose by 447 dollars and 421 dollars per TEU (a unit referring to one 6-meter container), reaching 2091 dollars and 2219 dollars respectively.
On the other hand, the Americas routes, which had driven the freight rate increases so far, showed signs of adjustment. The West Coast route of the Americas fell by 33 dollars per FEU (a unit referring to one 12-meter container), settling at 3880 dollars. The East Coast route rose by 25 dollars, recording 4708 dollars.
Following the Americas routes, the Europe route also experienced an upward trend, which is expected to further strengthen the profitability of domestic shipping companies such as HMM. In particular, since April, HMM has deployed twelve of the world's largest 24,000 TEU-class container ships on the Europe route.
Accordingly, HMM, which achieved a turnaround to profit for two consecutive quarters, is expected to achieve a significant performance turnaround in the upcoming fourth quarter. Reflecting this, as of the 27th, HMM's stock price reached 13,000 won, which is about 6 to 7 times the lowest price of 2,190 won recorded in March.
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