Currently, unprecedented freight demand has led to disruptions in maritime supply chains and soaring freight rates. With the arrival of the autumn shipping season, container shortages are expected to intensify and congestion at major container ports will further worsen.
China, the United States and Europe hold a global maritime regulatory summit. Will sky-high shipping rates be cooled down?
Recently, senior government officials from China, the United States and the European Union participated in the fifth Global Maritime Regulatory Summit to discuss serious supply chain disruptions.
According to FMC news, this meeting focused on the following three topics:
▪Since the new crown epidemic Industry dynamics since the outbreak, including analysis of supply and demand, and identification of causes of maritime supply chain bottlenecks and service disruptions; ▪ Relevant jurisdictions and authorities’ response efforts Actions taken on these issues and their results;
▪ Future directions and possible actions to improve the resilience and smooth functioning of the industry.
It is reported that the summit discussed industry developments since the outbreak, including challenges facing the international container shipping industry and broader issues in the maritime supply chain. Participants agreed that the epidemic has posed special challenges to shipping lines, ports and logistics service operators operating in and out of various parts of the world.
They exchanged views on actions taken in their respective jurisdictions and their outlook and views for the future, including possible actions to increase the resilience of the sector.
Hapag-Lloyd: In addition to freezing spot freight, it will also limit the increase in premiums and surcharges!
After Hapag-Lloyd announced a few days ago that it would freeze spot freight rates, its official spokesperson stated in an interview that in addition to freezing spot freight rates, it would also limit premiums. and other substantial increases in surcharges.
“Does the cap include a cap on additional fees? Generally not, but internally we have stopped charging any new High surcharges, especially for those with very high FAK rates,” an official Hapag-Lloyd spokesman told Platts.
On September 9, CMA CGM launched the first shot of the “freight war” and announced that it would stop all spot freight increases before February 1, 2022. . Hapag-Lloyd followed suit, “freezing” increases in spot freight rates.
Since then, major liner companies have expressed their opinions on the increase in freight rates. Maersk said it prefers to sign long-term contracts with customers (compared to spot freight), while ONE said it would maintain its existing freight strategy.
The latest statement from the Ministry of Commerce: Foreign trade companies will receive policy “gift packages”
Due to the global new crown epidemic One after another, international logistics capacity has declined, causing container shipping prices to skyrocket. Container dumping has become the norm. Mainstream media such as CCTV have exposed the industry’s “hard to find a container”. These chain effects have attracted the attention of regulatory authorities.
Yesterday, Vice Minister of Commerce Ren Hongbin said at a press conference of the State Council Information Office: Recent surveys show that small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises are under increasing operating pressure, shipping freight rates remain high, and Shanghai exports The container freight index continues to rise to 4568.16 points, which is nearly 6 times the low point in April last year. In particular, freight rates to Europe, the West and the East of the United States are the highest.
Some light industrial product export companies have reported that the export freight has approached or exceeded the value of the goods, causing them to be afraid to accept orders or to complete orders. Case.
In addition, the prices of some raw materials are still high. In August, PPI rose by 9.5%, of which the price of production materials rose by 12.7%, which has been rising for 8 consecutive months. Affected by this, small and medium-sized foreign trade The profits of enterprises have been severely squeezed and they are facing greater difficulties.
Ren Hongbin said that in the next step, the Ministry of Commerce will adhere to both “stabilizing growth” and “promoting innovation”, closely tracking and judging changes in the international market situation, and paying close attention We should keep in mind the development dynamics of market entities, make good policy reserves, enhance the ability to resist risks in foreign trade, and maintain the smooth operation of foreign trade across cycles.
First, launch targeted policy support measures in a timely manner to increase support for small, medium and micro foreign trade enterprises.
The second is to actively participate in high-standard multilateral regional trade arrangements and support the multilateral trading system.
The third is to jointly build the “Belt and Road” with high quality, promote the establishment of a smooth trade working mechanism with more trading partner countries, and sign the “Silk Road E-commerce” cooperation agreement.
The fourth is to actively support the development of new foreign trade formats and models such as cross-border e-commerce, overseas warehouses, market procurement, and offshore trade.
The fifth is to successfully host important exhibitions such as the 130th Canton Fair and the 4th Import Expo, share China’s development opportunities with global enterprises, and promote the early recovery of global economy and trade. </p
