CCFI Fell for 14 Consecutive Weeks, and 78 Sailings Cancel

Sudden geopolitical disputes, ongoing CCVID-19, and weak inflation and demand will put the shipping market under multiple pressures in 2022.

After hitting a record high at the beginning of the year, the freight rate in the container shipping market has been declining for 14 consecutive weeks.

According to the weekly report of China's export container transportation market released by Shanghai Shipping Exchange on April 22, from April 18 to April 22, China's export container transportation market generally declined slightly, and the freight rates of most ocean routes fell to varying degrees.

On April 22, the China Composite Containerized Freight Index (CCFI) was 3109.78 points, down 0.6% from the previous week; the Shanghai Composite Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) was 4195.98 points, down 0.8% from the previous week.

According to the weekly report on China's export container transportation market released on January 14, 2022, the CCFI was 3489.94 points and the SCFI was 5094.36 points at that time. This means that in the past 14 weeks, CCFI has fallen by 10.9%, and SCFI has fallen by as much as 17.6%, and it is in a state of continuous decline.

In order to stabilize freight rates, liner companies have adjusted their voyages, and 78 voyages have been cancelled in the next five weeks.

According to the weekly report on voyage cancellations released by Drewry, an authoritative consulting agency in the industry on April 22, in the major routes such as trans-Pacific, trans-Atlantic, Asia-Europe and Mediterranean, from the 17th to the 21st week from April 25, announced There were 78 cancelled voyages. Across all 725 scheduled sailings, the cancellation rate was 11%.

Of these, 64% of cancelled sailings occurred on trans-Pacific eastbound routes, with the main destination being the U.S. West Coast.

In terms of alliances, from week 17 to week 21, THE alliance canceled the most voyages with 24.5 voyages, followed by 2M alliance and ocean alliance, which cancelled 18 and 12.5 voyages respectively.

Drewry said that the ongoing uncertainty in the shipping market makes it difficult for shippers to plan their shipments in advance. Affected by CCIVD-19, Shanghai is still under lockdown, and cargo owners can only transfer the goods to other ports such as Ningbo Zhoushan Port and Guangzhou Port.

Drewry also suggested that in order to avoid possible supply chain disruptions, liner companies, cargo owners and freight forwarders should actively communicate and negotiate shipping plans.