- China – US peak season shipping is in full swing.
- China vs West Coast prices were just one dollar less than the previous year, at about $1,210/FEU.
- They’ve risen 73% since then and are now 34% up that the last year prices.
- Operations are now behind schedule by 3-4 week, since mid-July.
- Likely to have heavy impact on freight prices too.
Last week’s report
| Week 34 | Week 33 | Last year* | |
| Global | $1,672 | 2% | 19% |
| China – US West Coast | $2,097 | 1% | 34% |
| China – US East Coast | $3,319 | 2% | 35% |
| China – North Europe | $2,030 | 5% | 17% |
| North Europe – US East Coast | $1,460 | 3% | 4% |
| * Compared to the corresponding week in 2017 | |||
The top five indexes are all up on last week and also all up on last year, a sure sign that peak season is now in full swing.
China-West Coast rates are 34% higher (China-East Coast 35% higher) than at the same time last year.
GRI
With recent GRIs sticking, it’s no surprise that, on top of the September 1 increase, some carriers have announced a GRI for a September 15 GRI as well – making it the 17th so far this year.
Prominent Factors
Other factors are at play, like advance ordering to beat the new tariffs on China imports. This issue may be masking an underlying rise in demand, and in itself will have a limited impact on pricing.
Recent typhoons in East Asia have caused disruptions, especially rollings caused by ships skipping a scheduled docking. Hurricane Lane also briefly impacted cargo in and out of Hawaii last Saturday.
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Source: The Baltic Briefing
