Ports are a barometer of foreign trade, and foreign trade demand also directly affects the busyness of ports. According to a number of port companies, since March, the level of empty container storage at the port has dropped from its high point, and container usage is gradually recovering. Moreover, the first-quarter data of many port companies were also better than the same period last year.
As foreign trade demand continues to recover, market freight rates have also begun to stabilize and rebound. Freight rates on most routes have increased for two consecutive weeks. Among them, the US-Western route increased by 12.54% in a single week.
In addition, as an important window for the outside world to observe the foreign trade economy, the recovery of various indicators in Yiwu also reflects that foreign trade demand has begun to pick up to a certain extent. Industry insiders predict that the foreign trade market is expected to pick up further.
The ports from south to north are busy
Recently, at Mawan Port in the western port area of Shenzhen, a subsidiary of China Merchants Port, external collection cards and internal collection cards (including unmanned collection cards) are coming and going non-stop.
The scene in front of us is completely different from the previous “description” of empty container stacking at the port. At Mawan Port, the number of empty containers stored at the terminal has been reduced. Empty containers are only stored in a small area, and heavy containers are piled in the rest of the yard and bridge operation areas.
According to the relevant person in charge of China Merchants Port, the inventory of empty containers in Shenzhen West Port reached a maximum of 280,000 TEUs in February. The current empty container volume is approximately 210,000 TEUs, a decrease of approximately 24%. The port completed a throughput of 2.83 million TEUs in the first quarter of this year, an increase of 1.7% compared with the same period last year. “From this, we can intuitively feel that the usage of empty containers is gradually recovering, and it can also reflect from the side that the foreign trade market is gradually improving.”
The aforementioned relevant person in charge of China Merchants Port further stated that judging from the berthing situation of container ships, in the first quarter of this year, the number of container ship berthings in the Shenzhen West Port increased by 16.4% year-on-year, and increased by 1% compared with the fourth quarter of 2022. Among them, the number of container ship berthings in Mawan Port increased by 9.8% year-on-year in the first quarter of this year.
In addition to Shenzhen West Port, the operating volume of other ports is also gradually increasing. At Guangzhou Port, the foreign trade container unloading volume of Guangzhou Port Xinsha Company increased by 11.2% year-on-year in the first quarter; at Qingdao Port, a person familiar with the matter said that the current port operation volume is recovering, but a complete recovery will still take time.
The person in charge of Ningbo Port also said that the number of empty containers in Ningbo Zhoushan Port has also decreased recently, and foreign trade exports have improved significantly. Statistics disclosed so far show that the number of empty containers stored in Ningbo Zhoushan Port is about 410,000 TEUs, a decrease of about 60,000 TEUs from 470,000 TEUs in early March.
Freight rates increased on most routes
In addition, as transportation demand continues to recover, supply and demand are increasingly balanced, and market freight rates have stabilized and rebounded. At the same time, in order to increase long-term contract freight rates in the new year, shipping companies are also working hard to push up spot market freight rates. The latest Shanghai Export Container Freight Index (SCFI) rose by 33.15 points to 956.93 points, an increase of 3.59%, rising for two consecutive weeks.
Among them,the freight rates of the four major routes all increased, and the rebound rate of each route increased:
North American routes:Transportation demand is generally stable this week. Some shipping companies have taken measures to control the scale of transportation capacity to promote freight rate increases. Spot Market freight rates rebounded.
Shanghai to West AmericaThe freight rate is US$1,292/FEU, a weekly increase of US$144, or 12.54% (the industry believes that the freight rate is declining has reached its end).
Shanghai to East AmericaThe freight rate is US$2,147/FEU, a weekly increase of US$137, or 6.82%.
European routes: Inflationary pressures have eased as worries about recession and energy markets eased in the euro zone , market confidence continues to be in a recovery trend. Transportation demand remains stable, supply and demand are balanced, and market freight rates rise slightly.
Shanghai to EuropeThe current European line freight rate is 877 US dollars/TEU, an increase of 14 US dollars or 1.62%.
Shanghai to MediterraneanThe freight rate of this Mediterranean route is 1,621 US dollars/TEU, a weekly increase of 19 US dollars, or 1.19%.
Other routes: The freight rate per box of the South American route (Santos) is US$1,817, a weekly increase of US$96, or 5.58%. For the Persian Gulf route, the freight rate was US$1,092/TEU, an increase of 5.0% from the previous issue. On the Australia-New Zealand route, the freight rate was US$267/TEU, down 16.0% from the previous issue. The freight rate per box on the Southeast Asia line (Singapore) was US$196, a week-on-week decrease of 3 yuan, or 1.51%. </span
