The container freight rate continued to fall. The latest Shanghai Container Freight Index (SCFI) was 3429.83 points, down 132.84 points from last week, or 3.73%, and has been steadily declining for ten consecutive weeks.

In the latest issue, the freight rates of major routes continued to fall:

l The freight rate from Far East to West America was US$5,782/FEU, down US$371 or 6.03% for the week;

l The freight rate from Far East to US East was US$8,992/FEU, down US$114 or 1.25% for the week;

l The freight rate from Far East to Europe was US$4,788/TEU, down US$183 or 3.68% for the week;

l The freight rate from the Far East to the Mediterranean was $5,488/TEU, down $150 or 2.66% for the week;

l The freight rate of Southeast Asia route was US$749/TEU, down US$26 or 3.35% for the week;

l For the Persian Gulf route, the freight rate was US$2,231/TEU, down 5.9% from the previous issue.

l The Australia-New Zealand route continued to fall, and the freight rate was US$2,853/TEU, down 1.7% from the previous issue.

l The South American route fell for 4 consecutive weeks, and the freight rate was US$8,965/TEU, down US$249 or 2.69% for the week.

Last Sunday (21st), dockworkers at the Port of Felixstowe started an eight-day general strike that will have serious consequences for the UK's international seaborne trade and the region's logistics and transport industries. Maersk said on Thursday it was taking contingency measures to minimize the impact of the strike, including adjusting ship calls and schedules. The arrival time of some ships will be advanced or delayed, and some ships will be suspended from calling at the Port of Felixstowe to unload in advance.

With a strike of this magnitude, carriers may have to offload cargo bound for the UK at major hub ports, such as Antwerp and Rotterdam, further exacerbating existing congestion problems on the continent. Large freight forwarding companies pointed out that there are strikes on railways, roads and ports in Europe and the United States. Due to the low water level of the Rhine River in Germany, the cargo capacity of ships has been greatly reduced, and even some sections of the river have been suspended. It is currently known that there will be 5 flights on the European route in September. Airline, the waiting time of east US ports also lengthened. The latest issue of Drewry Freight Index showed that the freight rate of US east routes was the same as the previous issue.

The latest data released by other major freight indices show that freight rates in the spot market continue to decline. Drewry's World Containerized Index (WCI) has declined for 25 consecutive weeks, and the latest WCI composite index continued to fall sharply by 3% to $6,224/FEU, down 35% from the same period last year. Shanghai-Los Angeles and Shanghai-Rotterdam rates fell by 5% to $6,521/FEU and $8,430/FEU, respectively. Spot freight rates from Shanghai to Genoa fell 2% or $192 to $8,587/FEU. Shanghai-New York rates are hovering at the previous week's level. Drewry expects rates to continue falling in the coming weeks.