The Japan International Freight Forwarders Association (JIFFA) has announced that containerised exports from China did not recover as fast as expected in Week 13, due to the ongoing novel coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak.
The Shanghai Shipping Exchange (SSE) unveiled on Friday (27 March) that the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) for the week in question came to 889.8 points, down 0.9% from the previous week.
The spot rate for moving containers from Shanghai to Europe fell 3.1% to US$764/TEU. On the Mediterranean trade route demand for transporting protective medical products to Spain and Italy became stronger, but it was not enough to raise rates. As such, rates decreased by 1.3% to US$880/TEU.
JIFFA has reported that transport demand was also slow on the route to North America, under the influence of the Covid-19 pandemic. The spot freight rates for containerised shipments bound for the east and west coasts were US$2,758/FEU and US$1,515/FEU, down 1% and 2.2%, respectively according to the association.
As for other trades, containers rates to Australia and New Zealand surged 19.4% to US$899/TEU, as operators continued to squeeze tonnage supply. In contrast, the rates for containers to the Middle East Gulf and South America were both weak, declining 1.1% to US$1,004/TEU and 4% to US$1,304/TEU, respectively.
On the route from Shanghai to Japan, transport demand decreased, but the rate for Kansai-bound containers improved by 0.4% to US$233/TEU. Containers destined for Kanto remained unchanged at US$240/TEU.
Container movement is weakening on the trade between South Korea and China due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. In January and February, a total of 1,314,374TEU were carried between the economies, down 3.3% year-on-year from 1,359,624TEU, according to the South Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF). Containers increased by 2.4% in January but plunged 11.1% to 512,478TEU in February.
Furthermore, container trades between South Korea and eight Southeast Asian economies were sluggish in the first month of the year, going down by 2.9% year-on-year to 314,568TEU, according to the Korea Customs Service (KCS).
Box volumes to and from Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam increased, but those to and from Hong Kong and Malaysia decreaed. In February, however, containers to and from six economies that excluded Hong Kong and Singapore showed gains.
Those to and from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, in particular, enjoyed double-digit growth of 9.7% to 329,098TEU. According to JIFFA analysis buyers in South Korea imported commodities from other Asian territories because factories in China had discontinued operations due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the first two months of the year, 643,666TEU were moved between South Korea and the eight Asian economies in total, swelling 3.1% from 624,158TEU.
Exports from South Korea only improved slightly, by 0.5% to 330,447TEU, but imports from the eight rose a more favorable 6.1% to 313,219TEU.
In particular, those from Vietnam and Thailand were brisk, climbing 4.2% to 189,718TEU and 13.2% to 84,384TEU, respectively. It is projected that local production in Asia will slow down under the influence of the Covid-19 pandemic, and that container movement will decelerate consequently.
