Dear Clients, We wish to bring you up to date with market intel that may affect your importing / exporting business. Please see below key points that are having a major impact on international shipping currently. Equipment shortage... China is once again running out of containers. DCN (industry print media leader) released an article this week reporting a “DROUGHT” in China for sea containers. This is truthful, all major carriers are reporting inventory struggles at major ports throughout China. This is a significant factor to the current price increases being seen every 15 days on sea freight. As you would recall, during the pandemic it's a supply vs demand vs revenue game and if the revenue is higher on other trade lane's, then shipping lines are picking and choosing who gets the limited amount of equipment. Price increases occurring on all trade lanes. Just this week we quoted on 1 x 40' container ex Taiwan into India. Originally quoted on TUE, by THU the price on the same shipping line had jumped USD3000 up to USD4500 per 40' and no space until end of JUNE. Ex China we have heard of surging freight prices into South Africa, with freight rates now USD9000 - 10,000 per 40' CNTR. New Zealand into Tema, Ghana was USD5500 per 40' 45 days ago, now USD13,800 per 40'. The world index tracked by Drewry world trade index which tracks containers rates reported a 16% jump last week alone and overall a 146% increase from this time last year on global averages. If the weekly increases keep being as significant as 16% then expect Australia freight to keep climbing. Transit times... Do you import ex Europe? Then expect lengthy delays. We are seeing cargo that was booked on 35 - 45 day transits blowing out to over 90 days transit time. This is being caused by the RED SEA matter, with transhipment ports experiencing significant congestion and back log. A shipping line reported this week that they estimate they are 500,000 TEU capacity short on shipping slots globally for the current volume they have moving. With no availability to hire (lease) container ships as all are on charter since the RED SEA matter started, the only hope for easing is for the larger capacity NEW BUILD ships to hit the market. Booking space; previously we advised 2 weeks minimum, now its pushing 3-4 week booking notice period for majority of port pairings into Australia. Industry personnel expect this demand to continue well into the coming months. Pricing - June pricing is pushing into the mid USD3500 per 40' for major ports ex China into Australia East Coast. Talking to shipping lines they predict it could well push into the USD5000 range over the next couple of months. We would therefore recommend if you have upcoming orders, ask your suppliers to push them through earlier. In summary, there are significant factors impacting global shipping. Australia is not isolated from the impacts of these matters and given our small global footprint in the scale of economy with international shipping, we will be heavily impacted by how high ocean freight rates reach on European and USA trade over the upcoming peak period. If you wish to discuss any of these points, please don't hesitate to reach out to one of the team at Transways Logistics International.

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