Weekly Update of China-Europe Freight Trains （2024.04.29-2024.05.05）

During?Labor Day?holiday, the China-Europe?Express has been operating regularly, and the number of trains arriving and departing?at all terminals?has increased. On April 29th, the first JSQ train organized by Hanou International shipped 203 Hubei-made SUVs to Moscow, Russia,???a support?for car?manufacturers in Hubei. According to statistics, the China-Europe?freight trains?(Wuhan) transported about 1,500 vehicles in the first quarter. From January 1st to April 30th,2024,?Yiwu?operated a total of 656 trains, with a total of 54,000 TEUs shipped, with a year-on-year increase of 1.9%. According to the National Railway's announcement, as of May 5th, the "East Passage"?of China-Europe Express?has?delivered?2,000 trains and transported 210,000 TEUs of goods?via?Manzhouli, Suifenhe and Tongjiang railway ports, with year-on-year increases of 7% and 6%, respectively, reaching a new high in the same period of history.

During the festival, the four major ports of the China-Europe freight train accelerated the customs clearance process, ensuring the smooth operation of the train. Some of the west bound trains that have been overstocked at Khorgos have been transshipped?at due time. With?the rapid growth of freight volume before the festival, the handling capacity of Kazakhstan ports is also challenged. The overall?T/T?for?trains destined to?Malaszewicze?via Khorgos is more than 20 days. In addition, the?handling?of Malaszewicze-Brest?slowed as well,?where?the?reloading?to be extended to 7 days?accordingly.?In general,?the fastest?record?for Chengdu-Alashakou-Mala?is 16 days, for Chongqing-Alashankou-Duisburg is 20 days, for Xi'an-Khorgos-?Hamburg is 23 days, and for domestic stops to Milan is about 27 days. The overall delivery time of the Russian route remains good, with an average?T/T?of 18-19 days from Guangzhou to Moscow and 15-18 days from Shenyang/Jinan to Moscow.

In May, as seasonal export demand picked up, the imbalance between the volume and type of containers imported and exported at ports intensified. Ports along the East China (Ningbo, Shanghai, Xiamen) and ports along the South China ?(Guangzhou, Shenzhen) experienced severe shortages of containers, and the rental prices of containers on multiple routes increased dramatically, exceeding 20%. The quoted prices exceeding US$2,000 on individual routes. ?The highest growth rates on different routes are： Qingdao/Shanghai/Ningbo/Xiamen/Chengdu/Chongqing-Milan/Budapest, Xi'an-Malaysia/Duisburg/Warsaw. The subsidies for return trips from Malaysia, Warsaw, Lodz, Duisburg, and Hamburg also increased to around US$800-900.

The spot freight rate?for this week?is as follows:

? ? Europe-bound service: This week, the demand outweighed the ?planned capacity to large extend. With the rapid growth of container rent, the spot freight rate increased by 5%-10% month-on-month. Most platforms plan to lift their capacity until late May. The express service from Chengdu to Lodz is in urgent need, while the spaces from Chongqing to Mala/Duisburg are basically sold out. The spaces on Xi'an Express are not available in earlier May, and the those from Zhengzhou to Munich almost sold out as well.

? ? ? Russian bound service: According to Russian media , currently more than 90% of trade between China and Russia is settled in local currency, and the proportion of US dollars and euros has been reduced to the minimum. The cut of settlement channels has brought difficulties to the capital flow of trade and logistics enterprises, but enterprises in both countries are seeking alternative solutions actively. The volume of trade between China and Russia has stabilized and rebounded. The waiting list for booking space in May on multiple platforms such as Yiwu, Jinhua, Suzhou, and Ganzhou has been sold out, and there are not many remaining spaces in Chengdu-Minsk and Chongqing-Moscow in the middle and late May. According to industry insiders, due to the increase of overseas freight rate and the high cost of renting containers, the spot freight rate on the Russian routes has increased significantly, with some ?exceeding 5%. It is expected that the booking price on platforms such as Xi'an/Wuhan/Shijiazhuang may be raised, and Xi'an offered a subsidy of 100-200 US dollars per container for goods such as automobiles, auto parts and household electrical appliances etc.

? ? ? Central Asia-bound service: The freight transport for Central Asia has been relatively stable recently, with little fluctuation in the booking price of on the platforms. Due to limited demand for freight, some platforms have reduced their capacity to strengthen their advantages in consolidation. The Baku-bound route, which has received market attention in the past, has exposed problems such as long waiting time and low port efficiency. It seems to be an urgent problem for the middle corridor to take measures to improve port operation capabilities to enhance the competitiveness.