Freight rates have dropped
Freight rates have dropped
Recently, the freight rate of the main shipping line in the market changed the pace of rise and continued to fall in the past month. Even so, rates are still well above year-ago levels as the high rates seen in the fourth quarter of last year continued into the first quarter of this year.
The Global Container Freight Rate Index (WCI) stood at $8,832.23 /FEU as of March 17, down 3.8% month-on-month and still up 79% compared to the same period in 2021.
In early March, the trend of freight prices showed an obvious inflection point.
Over the past month, capacity deployments in the containerized market have continued to grow. Taking the Asia-America west route as an example, since the second half of last year, the available capacity continued to be short. In order to meet the freight demand, liner companies vigorously deployed the capacity on the route, and even freight forwarders and shippers began to charter ships to carry goods, making the shipping capacity on the route continue to grow, and continued to the beginning of this year.
According to the law of shipping market's periodic fluctuations, the transportation demand will gradually return to the normal level after April. Rates will continue to be affected if congestion at overseas ports remains unresolved.
