Shanghai–South America freight fell 8.6% in the week to Oct 23 but stays above US$5,000

The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) closed October 30 at 3,687.35 points, up 6.01 points on the week, and China’s composite CCFI rose 0.3% to 1,881.82, according to the Shanghai Shipping Exchange, in data released by Xinhua Finance.

Lane values published for the previous index, of October 23, show South America as the biggest faller: Shanghai to South American base ports stood at US$5,053 per TEU, down 8.61% on the week, according to forwarder Jetrun Logistics’ reading of exchange data.

On the same date, the US West Coast was at US$7,521 per FEU and the East Coast at US$10,388 per FEU, both slightly lower. Europe cost US$2,351 per TEU (+0.69%), the Mediterranean US$3,255 and the Persian Gulf US$6,499. Jetrun cites an October 19 DHL Global Forwarding analysis estimating global port congestion at about 3.8 million TEU, with on-time performance below a third at some ports.

CSP take: the drop on the South American lane is welcome, but levels remain high compared with Europe. Brazilian importers should use the softer week to secure December space and build in lead-time buffers because of congestion. This reading is ours, not the sources’.