CCTV News: In January 2025, the container throughput of Shanghai Port exceeded 5 million TEUs, breaking historical records and setting a new monthly throughput high. So, what is the current situation at the port terminal? As February begins, can the port maintain its hot trend in January?
On February 14, a container ship was loading at Zhendong Wharf on the north side of Waigao Bridge in Pudong New District, Shanghai. At 12 noon, the ship left the port with more than 2,200 containers to Southeast Asia. The relevant person in charge told reporters that in January, affected by the demand for stock replenishment in Europe and the United States, coupled with the concentrated shipment of domestic factories before the festival, the port container throughput hit a new high. It is currently entering the traditional off-season, and the pier is relatively idle this month.
On February 14, the Shanghai Shipping Exchange released the comprehensive freight index of Shanghai export containers at 1758.82 points, down 7.3% from the previous period. Industry insiders told reporters that February and March are the traditional off-season for the domestic container transportation market, so freight rates and freight volume are currently at low levels, but compared with 2024, the freight rates are basically the same. Industry insiders said that although the freight performance is still weak in the short term. But as factories resume work, the market is gradually transitioning to the peak season.
Zheng Jingwen, deputy director of the International Shipping Research Institute of Shanghai International Shipping Research Center, said: "China's layout in emerging markets is relatively diversified, and the overall export resilience of China is relatively strong, and there is still some support for export growth."
Many shipping companies issued price increases. The collection index (European line) futures strengthened
Recently, many leading shipping companies announced that container freight rates rose in March, which attracted widespread attention from the market. Affected by this, the main contracts for the futures of the collective currency index (European Line) also continued the previous upward trend. Within one month, the closing price rose by more than 60%. How is the market acceptance? What about the future market conditions of the collective transportation market? Continue to watch the report.
The main contract of futures in the collection index (European line) rose from the relative low of 1240.2 on January 16 to 2010.8 on February 17, an increase of 62.14%. Recently, many leading shipping companies have also issued price increases. For example, the Shanghai-Rotterdam route carried by Maersk was quoted at US$2,291 in late February, while the quotation rose to US$4,000 on March 6.
Experts believe that long-term negotiations are about to begin, and it is not surprising that shipping companies have issued a price increase letter recently. However, there are still differences in whether the actual freight rate can meet the shipping company's expectations in the future.
Regarding the future market conditions of the collective transportation market, industry insiders believe that the first quarter is the off-season for traditional shipping, and the freight index released by the Air Exchange will still show a downward trend in the short term. In the second quarter, as factory production gradually recovers after the holiday, freight rates are expected to stabilize and rebound, but the probability of a surge is relatively low.
