At the beginning of the week there are two news concerning the transport of containers by sea from Asia to Europe: the first (which is almost no longer a novelty) is that the freight rates have increased further in the past week, the second (perhaps more significant) is that some ships are already sold out.

Regarding freight rates, the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index indicates that the spot rates for transported Teu (20 ′ container) between the Far East and Northern Europe have exceeded the psychological threshold of $ 2,000, settling precisely at 2,091. to find a similar peak it is necessary to go back to the month of May 2010. Growth values ​​also for containers bound for the Mediterranean with freight rates increasing by 23.5% (equal to 422 dollars) in the space of a week, which reached the level record of $ 2,219 for Teu.

According to many insiders, the situation is not expected to improve before the next Chinese New Year (February), after which the shipping companies could probably put more hold capacity on the market and therefore reduce transport rates.

The usual well-informed Lar Jensen, analyst at the head of the Danish company SeaIntelligence Consulting, this week highlights the report in the Journal of Commerce, according to which the French shipping carrier Cma Cgm has stopped accepting reservations for the shipment of containers from Asia to Northern Europe for the next three weeks. Not only that: Hapag Lloyd in recent days announced a surcharge of $ 1,000 for Teu, renamed peak season surcharge for those who want to ship their containers on the same route starting next December 15th.

The expert Danish consultant points out that this information gives a good idea of ​​how complicated the container shipping market is in this period for shippers. High freight rates, limited availability of containers and difficulties in finding space on ships, if not at a high price, force companies to jump through hoops to export their goods from Asia to Europe.

Fonte: www.shippingitaly.it