Early peak season on busy intra-Asia trade drawing to a close
Intra-Asia freight rates have been declining in what appears to be the end of an ...
Photo: VesselFinder
By Alison Koo
Intra-Asia rates rose again in the last two weeks of November, as shippers and carriers in the region begin to look towards Chinese New Year.
Drewry’s Intra-Asia Container Index showed a 6% increase from the first two weeks of last month, averaging $667 per 40ft.
The Shanghai-Singapore route registered the largest gain, rising 31% fortnight on fortnight, to $822 per 40ft. The next biggest jump was seen in the Shanghai-Tanjung Pelepas lane, where rates averaged $1,082 per 40ft, up 27% from the previous fortnight.
The Jakarta-Shanghai rate also saw strong gains, increasing by 20%, to $42 per 40-foot container.
China’s suspension of seafood imports from Japan, amid a diplomatic row, may have had an impact, as Yokohama-Shanghai rates fell 18%, to $59 per 40ft.
In response to rising demand for shipments, South Korean operators Pan-Continental Line (PanCon) and SM Line will take slots on each other’s services connecting China, South Korea, Vietnam and Thailand. PanCon will buy slots on SM’s Vietnam-Thailand Express (VTX), which is operated in cooperation with Namsung Shipping and Pan Ocean, deploying three 1,700-1,900 teu ships.
VTX has a port rotation of Gwangyang-Busan-Shanghai-Laem Chabang-Ho Chi Minh City-Gwangyang.
Joining VTX will allow PanCon to increase its South Korea-China-Vietnam-Thailand connections to four weekly departures, two self-operated and two as co-loader.
Meanwhile, SM Line will buy slots from PanCon’s Korea-Vietnam-Thailand (KVT) service, jointly operated with KMTC Line and Namsung.
KVT, which also deploys three vessels with an average capacity of 1,800 teu, has a port rotation of Gwangyang-Busan-Hong Kong-Ho Chi Minh City-Laem Chabang-Bangkok-Gwangyang, and by joining the service, SM Line is able to offer two weekly sailings to Vietnam and Thailand.
“We expect intra-Asia rates to remain on an uptrend until January, due to tight capacity caused by an extended peak season leading up to the lunar new year in mid-February,” Drewry noted.
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