The Red Sea situation remains tense, with freight rates in Europe increasing by 45.5%

Due to the continued impact of the situation in the Red Sea, multiple shipping companies have once again notified that they will levy peak season surcharges and surcharges incurred due to detours around the Cape of Good Hope, further pushing up freight rates.

The Shanghai Container Freight Index (SCFI) rose 15% this week, driven by a 45.5% increase in Shanghai Nordic freight rates compared to the previous week.

As of last Thursday, the average spot freight rate of the Drury World Container Index (WCI) from Shanghai to Genoa, Italy has increased by 40% compared to the last week of November. The WCI evaluation price from Shanghai to Rotterdam, Netherlands increased by 42% year-on-year, and the WCI Global Composite Index increased by 20%.

(USD spot exchange rate per FEU. Blue line: Shanghai Genoa. Green line: Shanghai Rotterdam. Orange line: global average.)

According to Xeneta data, the average spot rate in the Asia Mediterranean market on Friday was 45% higher than the averagecontract rate signed in the past three months.

Since November 30th, the average Asian Mediterranean spot exchange rate has risen by 34%, and since December 14th it hasrisen by 24%.

The Asia Mediterranean spot freight rates are rapidly rising, and the spot exchange rate index has shown a significant impact of the Red Sea attack. The longer the container route from the Red Sea to Cape of Good Hope, the more ship capacity it absorbs, the higher the freight costs, and interest rates are already rebounding. Since Maersk and other shipping giants have announced the resumption of shipping, there is still a possibility of controlling freight rates. We are waiting for good news.