Since the beginning of this year, the current situation of shortage of containers, bursting of containers, dumping of containers, jumping to ports, and crazy rise in freight rates has continued around the world, and has not been effectively alleviated. Freight forwarders have reminded cargo owners to book containers in advance, but even if they book in advance, they may not be able to get the space, and even if they work hard to get the space, they may not be able to pick up the box…
A few days ago, CCTV channel once again The report exposed the situation in the industry where “it’s hard to find a box, it’s hard to find a cabin, and shipping costs are skyrocketing.” It reflects the difficulties faced by foreign trade export enterprises in shipping goods.
According to the latest data released by the Shanghai Shipping Exchange, as of July 2, China’s export container freight index was reported at 2653.32, an increase of 2.4% from 2591.41 on June 25. .
At the same time, major container shipping companies also announced the benchmark freight rate list for containers in early July, showing that container freight rates have increased on many routes.
Why is the international container freight rate rising again? What impact will this have on related industries?
Freight rates are adjusted frequently and freight forwarders are busy accepting orders
An international company Guo Shaohai, head of the freight forwarding company in Shanghai, said: The business volume has increased a lot this year, but the recent frequent adjustments in international container freight rates have greatly increased their workload, and they have to repeatedly confirm the shipping company’s shipping company’s quotation every day.
Compared with before, the workload has increased 4 to 5 times, and now it is “person-to-person”. After booking the cabin, you have to keep an eye on the box.
Starting from July 1, shipping companies have made a new round of adjustments to route quotations. Although some near-ocean routes have shown a downward trend, most ocean routes have increased prices. expected.
Take the benchmark freight rate from China to major destination ports in Europe as an example: On July 1, the benchmark freight rate for standard containers was US$7,300 per box, which was higher than the previous week on June 25. The price quoted: US$6,600/box, an increase of more than 10%. Similarly, the benchmark price for large boxes was US$13,600 per box, an increase of more than 7% compared with the previous week’s quotation.
Guo Shaohai, who has been in the industry for more than 30 years, said that he has never experienced such a continuous increase in freight rates. He said that there are many factors that affect international container freight rates, the most important of which is The volume of cargo carried and the efficiency of transportation at the destination port.
The backlog of containers in the early stage is in urgent need of port clearance and transshipment, and overlapping freight orders are still increasing. As a result, the pressure on some destination ports will be difficult to alleviate in the short term, pushing up the recent international container freight rates.
It is difficult to deliver goods due to large orders, so export companies increase prices for booking space
In this round of container freight rates Behind the increase is the insufficient supply of container space. What impact will this have on the shipments of export companies? What challenges will freight forwarding companies face?
In a freight forwarding company in Yangpu District, Shanghai, Zhang Yan, manager of the key account department, received Shen Zhenqing, freight manager of a vitamin raw material manufacturer.
After a round of negotiations, Shen Zhenqing finally only got the shipping space for 5 containers.
But he said that in fact, their demand is much higher than cabin insurance (cabin space), so now they have no choice but to go to an agent. Unexpectedly, the price has increased so far this year At five or six times the price. The small box sent to North America is about 15,000 US dollars, and the large box is about 18,000 US dollars.
Zhang Yan revealed that in previous years, freight forwarding companies generally had to find sources of goods. Since the beginning of this year, the number of customers like Shen Zhenqing has suddenly increased, which has also overwhelmed them. Some customers are willing to increase the price to obtain shipping space in order to ensure shipments.
There is a serious backlog of containers, filling the transit warehouses
At the same time, high freight prices have also affected the order delivery of some export companies At such a speed, some low-value products can only be temporarily stacked in transit warehouses. What impact will this have on the warehousing side?
The person in charge of a foreign trade transit warehouse said that his daily work starts with inventory inventory. The current international container transportation capacity is tight, and the container temporary storage space of this warehouse has been stacked for 20 years. Multiple heavy boxes ready for export.
At present, the storage capacity of this transit warehouse has exceeded 85% and is close to full. More than 30% of them need to be exported through transit, which is higher than in the past.�� increased by 10%.
Data from the General Administration of Customs of my country show that my country’s total export value in May 2021 was US$263.922 billion, an increase from US$206.431 billion in the same period last year 23.4%.
With the increase in my country’s exports, container throughput has also hit new highs. From January to May this year, the container throughput of my country’s eight major hub ports reached 230 million TEUs, which was 1.6% higher than the same period last year. of 196 million TEU, an increase of 17.1%.
Industry insiders said that with the improvement of the epidemic situation in various places, the effective international container shipping capacity is recovering, and the congestion at the port will be alleviated in the fourth quarter.
The surge in freight rates is not good for freight forwarders and foreign trade companies, but upstream container sales companies and shipping companies are “making a lot of money.” According to Drewry, the EBIT of the container shipping industry in 2021 will exceed the total of the past 10 years.
At present, in the current environment, there is still a shortage of cabins and containers, a container is hard to find, port congestion is everywhere, and shipping schedules are delayed… Book now and cherish it! </p
