Box spot rate drop continues into November

A drop in US-China box rates seen in the first week of October seems to have continued into November, according to freight forwarding tech company Shifl.While the drop in rates may offer some relief after markets hit record highes in October, rates are expected to rise again in the run up to Chinese New Year in February.

Shabsie Levy, Shifl CEO & Founder, said:?“With the holiday shopping rush seemingly over and the already ordered goods sitting inside thousands of containers on many ships across the USA, the drop-in freight rates on the spot market continues into November 2021.”The company previously noted a drop in spot ratres for 40 foot?containers moving from China to Los Angeles;?rates fell over 50% from September to October 2021, from $17,500 to $8,500.

On the China-US East coast route, Shifl’s data shows November spot rates at around $13,800 per container, down 29% from $19,500 in September 2021.“Based on the current market conditions, I visualize a slight uptick in rates just before Chinese New Year,” said Shabsie?Levy. “After Chinese new year as we head into the traditionally quieter months, I'm confident we will see the rates on a stable downward trajectory.”

November 5's Ningbo Containerized Freight Index (NCFI) weekly commentary lead with the line "the relationship between supply and demand had eased, and the freight rates of most routes has fallen." The Index fell by 1.1% on-week to 3964.5 points, with five routes moving upward and the other 16 falling.

For Ningbo-US, the report said:??"The market volume has declined slightly. Due to the large number of blank sailings, the overall supply/demand relationship was stable, and the market freight rate remained high. This week, freight indices in the routes from Ningbo to East America and West America quote 3125.7 points and 4286.7 points, slipping by 0.5% and climbing by 0.5% from one week ago respectively."