Container Freight Rates Fall After 10 Weeks... European Routes Remain Strong

SCFI Index 5094.36

HMM's Prestige is docked at Busan New Port.

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Global shipping freight rates have fallen for the first time in 10 weeks.

According to the industry on the 15th, the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI), a global shipping freight rate indicator, recorded 5,094.36 points, down 15.24 points from the previous week. This is the first time since November 12 last year that freight rates have turned downward.

The East Coast of the Americas route dropped $104 from $11,833 to $11,729 per 1 FEU (12-meter container). The West Coast of the Americas route remained steady at $7,994, the same as last week.

During the same period, the Middle East route fell $95 to $3,695 per 1 TEU (12-meter container), and the Mediterranean route also closed down $9 at $7,520.

The Australia-New Zealand and South America routes also recorded declines of $18 and $155 per 1 TEU, respectively, closing at $4,673 and $10,168.

On the other hand, the Europe route rose $20 from the previous week to $7,797 per 1 TEU, marking the seventh consecutive week of increase.

The shipping industry expects freight rates to remain strong for the time being due to prolonged Omicron variant disruptions worldwide and logistics bottlenecks at major North American ports such as LA and Long Beach.