The latest Container Freight Index (SCFI) released by the Shanghai Shipping Exchange dropped 1.67% to 4,074.70 points. The freight rate of the largest freight volume in the US-Western route fell 3.39% for the week, and fell below US$7,000 per 40-foot container, came to $6883

Due to the recent strikes of trailer drivers in Western of America, and the railway workers are also planning to strike, it remains to be seen whether the freight rate will recover. This comes despite Biden having ordered the creation of the Presidential Emergency Board (PEB), effective July 18, to help resolve the ongoing dispute between the major freight rail operator and its unions. Although the sales pressure of terminal commodities in the market is still under great pressure, due to the successive strikes of workers related to the European and American evacuation, the problem in the port has continued to deteriorate. The recent strikes in Hamburg, Bremen and Wilhelmshaven have made the problem in the port even worse, although the strike has been stopped at present. , but the follow-up development remains to be seen. Freight forwarding practitioners pointed out that at present, shipping companies offer quotations once every two weeks. Unless there are special factors, the current freight rate will continue until the end of this month. Except for the United States and West, the freight rates of European and American routes are stable.

The freight rate from SCFI Shanghai to Europe was US$5,612/TEU, down US$85 or 1.49% for the week; the Mediterranean line was US$6,268/TEU, down US$87 for the week, down 1.37%; the freight rate to West America was US$6,883/FEU, down US$233 for the week, down 3.39%; to $9537/TEU in the US East, down $68 for the week, down 0.71%. The freight rate of South America route (Santos) per box was US$9,312, a weekly increase of US$358, or 4.00%, the highest increase, and was last at US$1,428 for three weeks.

Drewry’s latest index: Shanghai to Los Angeles spot freight weekly assessment is $7,480/FEU. It was down 23% year-on-year and 1% week-on-week. This assessment is 40% lower than the peak of $12,424/FEU in late November 2021, but still 5.3 times higher than the rate in the same period in 2019. Shanghai to New York spot rates are assessed weekly at $10,164/FEU, unchanged from the previous period, down 14% year-over-year, and down 37% from the mid-September 2021 peak of $16,183/FEU – but still four percent below 2019 levels times.

On the one hand, the sharp drop-in freight rates over the past nine months is lowering costs for shippers (at least compared to last fall) and shows that the market is working: Ocean carriers are competing on price to fill the void. Freight rates, on the other hand, are still very lucrative for ocean carriers, and shipping costs for shippers are still much higher than they were before the pandemic.

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