China export box transport market sees demand stable. Despite small part of box liners pushing up freight rate, still fails to improve the condition, leading the comprehensive index sliding narrowly. On Aug.11, Shanghai (Export) Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) issued by Shanghai Shipping Exchange (SSE) quotes 878.27 points, a slip of 2.1% against one week ago.

 

　　In the Europe route, as sale volume in the destination increases, both the average slot utilization rates in the Europe and Mediterranean routes remain above 95%, with some even full-loaded. Most box liners hold stand-by attitude, only small of them reduce freight rate to attract more cargo volume, leading spot rate falling slightly. On Aug.11, freight rates in the routes from Shanghai to Europe and Mediterranean routes (covering seaborne surcharges) quote USD931/TEU and USD849/TEU, down by 0.4% and 1.2% from one week ago respectively.

 

　　U.S. PMI quotes 56.30 points in July, a slight decrease against one year ago, but keeps recovering, which boosts transport demand in the North America route. Both the average slot utilization rates in the USWC and USEC routes remain above 95%, with some even full-loaded. However, some box liners slip freight rate, leading spot rate sliding continuously. On Aug.11, freight rates in the routes from Shanghai to USWC and USEC (covering seaborne surcharges) quote USD1641/FEU and USD2620/FEU, down by 1.2% and 1.5% from one week ago respectively.

 

　　In the Persian Gulf route, transport demand and demand/supply condition have no improvement, and the average slot utilization rate hovers around 80%. For the excess supply of capacities, most box liners reduce freight rate positively to attract more cargo volume, leading spot rate slip continuously. On Aug.11, freight rate in the Shanghai-Persian Gulf route (covering seaborne surcharges) has a week-on-week decrease of 5.8% to USD633/TEU.

 

　　Cargo volume keeps stable in the Australia route, where the average slot utilization rate remains 90%-95%. As the good performance of demand/supply condition, most box liners sustain freight rate at the present level, and spot rate keeps stable. On Aug.11, freight rate in the Shanghai-Australia/New Zealand route (covering seaborne surcharges) quotes USD493/TEU, down by 2.2% from one week ago.

 

　　Cargo volume has a slip in the North Africa route. After box liners reducing freight rate last week, most box liners reduce it again this week, which follows by others. Spot rate has a large decrease. On Aug.11, freight rate in the Shanghai-North Africa route (covering seaborne surcharges) quotes USD1925/TEU, slip by 15.3% from one week ago.