International freight rates have soared and containers have become a “scarce resource.” How to deal with this?

According to data from container leasing and trading platform Container xChange, container prices in China are experiencing huge fluctuations. The main manifestation is that the price has continued to rise recently and is adjusted approximately every 48 hours. The rise is mainly attributed to uncertainty caused by the Red Sea situation and suppliers and sellers looking to hedge risks. The price of a 40-foot container has risen from US$2,200 to US$2,300 in April to the current US$2,500 to US$2,700.

"The shipping space at the end of May is basically gone, and now there is only demand but no supply," Ji Sen (pseudonym), the head of a large-scale freight forwarding company in the Yangtze River Delta, told China Business News. He mentioned that a large number of containers are "wandering outside," and there is a serious shortage of containers at the port, causing the problem of "hard to find a cabin" to resurface.

According to data provided by the data agency Freightos, since the end of April, container freight rates from Asia have increased by approximately US$1,000/FEU (40-foot container), bringing the price of shipping to the US West Coast and Northern Europe routes to approximately US$4,000/FEU. The freight rate to the Mediterranean route has increased to about US$5,000/FEU.

In particular, the two major shipping giants Maersk and CMA CGM have announced plans to increase prices in June, specifically raising the Nordic FAK rate from June 1. Maersk’s price per 40-foot container is up to US$5,900, while CMA CGM raised the price by another US$1,000 on the 15th, to US$6,000 per 40-foot container.

The increase in container freight rates and the resulting scarcity have caused cargo owners of foreign trade companies to face various problems, such as delayed shipments, overstocked goods, and extended transportation timelines. This situation may also affect the scale of subsequent orders. How can they deal with it? At this time, logistics companies that operate self-owned containers have shown their unique advantages.

These companies have greater risk resistance. When container resources are tight, they can allocate their own resources to avoid problems such as backlogs of goods and extended transportation times, providing customers with more stable and reliable logistics services. It is a wise move for foreign trade enterprise cargo owners to choose to cooperate with them.

Neptune Logistics is one of the first domestic information-based container carriers engaged in China-Europe freight train transportation. Through the flexible deployment of our own resources, we can provide you with more stable and reliable services. Our business scope extends from coastal areas to inland countries, such as Mongolia, Central Asia, and other CIS countries, as well as Europe, Russia, Vietnam, Southeast Asia, and other regions.

Data source: Container xChange, China Business News, Shipping Network

Content: Translated from WeChat Public Platform