Author Name: Dion Suen

Container spot rates continued to climb on the Asia-Europe trades this week on the back of strong demand and extremely tight capacity, in terms of both vessel and equipment availability. Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) published a rate of US$1,508 per TEU for Shanghai-North Europe, an increase of US$262 per TEU on last week, up 21%. The Shanghai-Mediterranean rate grew US$310 per TEU to finish the week on US$1,674 per TEU, a rise of just under 23%. Freight forwarders said the container shortage had increasingly become their primary concern – the lack of available empty equipment in export locations likely to lead to further schedule and sailing disruption. Do you ever hear about blank sailing? How does it affect your business? Blank sailing which simply means that for that week or fortnight or month (depending on the frequency of the liner service) that area will not have a vessel to discharge or load cargo. It is a reduction in capacity. According to liner database eeSea, five of the 82 scheduled sailings between Asia and North Europe will be blanked this month, while two of the 79 planned for December have so far been declared as blanked. In terms of slot capacity, this will lead to a 3% reduction next month. Meanwhile, on the transpacific trades, rates were flat. The Shanghai-US west coast leg finished the week on £3,887 per 40ft, just US$16 up on the week before, while the Shanghai-US east coast rate was US$4,676 per 40ft, US$12 up on last week. Our logistics expects would advise customers and all that the shippers can do is to plan their shipments in such a way as to avoid blank sailings. Plan your shipment schedule as soon as possible and avoid any negative effect on your business. Source:  https://bit.ly/35ApCMZ