This year, the shipping market is facing various problems caused by cargo backlog, ship delays, port hopping and shortage of space. Every container ship that can sail is now in demand as demand soars and market players begin making longer-term preparations to ease the current congestion.
Due to the shortage of shipping capacity, there was a batch of new ship orders last week, including Seaspan, HMM and Wan Hai, which all increased shipbuilding orders.
However, none of this will help solve the looming crisis in the container shipping supply chain. Congestion at ports and inland areas is leading to a shortage of available equipment, continuing to impact the development of the beleaguered container supply chain.
On July 15th and August 1st, freight rates will jump in two rounds, and GRI has increased 15 times this year!
According to the latest freight data released by the Shanghai Export Container Freight Index (SCFI) on July 2, the SCFI composite index continued to rise last week to 3095.14 points, an increase from the previous period. 119 points, an increase of 3.2%.
Quotations for all major routes have increased across the board:
The freight rate for the US East Line soared by US$310 to US$9,254/FEU, an increase of 3.46 %,
The freight rate of the US West Line also rose sharply by US$228 to US$4,944/FEU, an increase of 4.8%,
The European Line The freight rate rose by US$307 to US$6,786/TEU, an increase of 4.7%,
The freight rate of the Mediterranean route continued to rise to US$6,655/TEU, an increase of 2.1%,
The above are all new high levels in history!
The Asia-U.S. route will increase GRI for the 14th time in 2021, effective July 15, 2021
TheAsia-U.S.routewillincreaseGRIforthe15thtimein2021,effectiveonAugust1,2021
According to estimates from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), if international shipping prices remain at the current high level throughout 2021, product import prices will increase by about 2 percentage points.
The third quarter will usher in a super peak season, and freight prices will skyrocket!
Industry insiders pointed out that since the beginning of this year, problems such as shortage of ships, shortage of containers, shortage of workers, and port congestion have been layered on top of each other. In the third quarter, the market entered the traditional peak season, and demand far exceeded the supply of transportation capacity, driving freight rates to skyrocket.
It is expected that the SCFI freight index will exceed the 4,000-point mark this week, driving freight rates to explore new sky-high prices.
As the world’s major shipping companies have successively raised freight rates in July and August, if additional costs such as peak season surcharges, fuel costs, and space purchase fees are included, the Far East to the United States East The freight rate of the line can reach 15,000-18,000 US dollars/FEU, the US-Western line has also exceeded 10,000 US dollars/FEU, and the freight rate of the European line is about 15,000-20,000 US dollars/FEU.
Analysts said that since the Suez Canal grounding incident at the end of March this year, European port congestion has further intensified. Yantian Port and its nearby ports have been temporarily affected by the epidemic. The closure adds insult to injury.
Although Yantian Port has resumed normal operations, it still cannot be fully digested in the short term. The congestion situation at US ports has not improved yet. Container shipping companies are expected to usher in a super peak season in the third quarter of this year.
The American Retailers Association estimates that as retailer inventories are still at the lowest level in the past 20 years, strong demand for additional inventory will continue to push up container shipping prices.
The container shipping industry will profit up to US$100 billion this year!
Drury said spot and contract rates reached record highs in the second quarter and worsening supply chain disruptions continued to push prices higher. Annual profits of container shipping companies are expected to reach US$80 billion in 2021. If freight rates continue to rise rapidly in the second half of the year, industry profits may even reach US$100 billion.
The British consultancy noted: “2021 will be the first time in the history of container shipping that carrier profits will approach 1,000 against a backdrop of huge operational disruption to ports and ship systems. billion, and the average freight rate increased by 50%.”
Drewry predicts that container volume will continue to grow during the peak season of the third quarter to the end of the year. and ended the year with annual growth of approximately 10%, cementing a record year for the industry.
For 2022, Drewry said there will still be growth, but as epidemic-related restrictions are lifted and consumer spending is expected to shift to services, growth may only be the same. About half.
For 2022, Drewry expects EBIT to fall by more than a third due to weaker freight rates and higher costs, which may increase as many carriers lock in expensive long-term contracts Stay at higher levels for longer periods of time.
Lars Jensen, CEO of container consultancy Vespucci Maritime, studied Drewry’s $100 billion profit figure and said:��Container shipping will make up for 20 years of losses in one year. </p
