News / China-Australia 'firm' as surcharges support strong rates

Photo: © Yong hian Lim

Maersk is looking to capitalise on the “firm” China-Australia lane with its latest “lean service” announcement.

The Danish shipping line on Friday announced a new service serving the Greater China region to/from Australia.

The Qilin service will link Shanghai, Sydney and Melbourne from 24 July and complement Maersk’s existing Dragon service.

“The launch of this premium product offers significantly improved transit times from Shanghai to Sydney and Melbourne and will better support your supply chain needs into these markets,” the carrier told customers, and added that it reflected a “continued commitment” to those in the region.

Maersk claimed the “lean rotation” could offer transit time improvements between the three cities, with weekly departures.

China is Australia’s largest trading partner, and while Australia exports mostly raw materials and food, the fronthaul transit from China is primarily finished manufactured products.

Shanghai–Sydney spot rates on the SCFI jumped 19% in a single week recently, following increases of 7%, 14%, and 12% in the three preceding weeks, according to Australian forwarder Magellan Logistics, with MSC, CMA CGM, Cosco, and others implementing new surcharges on 1 May.

Indeed, the Freightos terminal notes that rates from Shanghai to Melbourne saw a peak in early May of $2,043 per teu, but recently reduced to $1,275 per teu.

“This is not a single carrier testing the market, it is an industry-wide move, and the alignment across carriers on both the quantum and timing of increases suggests the pricing will hold,” said David Thatcher, founder of Magellan Logistics.

“Rates that held relatively steady through the early part of the year have now moved sharply, and the coordinated nature of carrier rate actions in May signals that the increases are here for the medium term,” he added.

He explained that Australian importers were facing tighter equipment availability, rising peak season surcharges, and stronger airfreight pricing as the Red Sea disruption and Middle East tensions continued to distort global shipping networks.