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Container transport has never been so expensive
Prices for container transport continue to rise. The research and market bureau Drewry reports that the price for shipping a '40 foot container' from China to the Netherlands has broken a record.
Transporting a container from Shanghai to Rotterdam costs $27 in the Drewry-Spot Freight Index of May 10.174. That is an increase of 3% compared to one week earlier. In one year, the price of transport on this route has even risen by 485%. It is not only transport to Rotterdam that has become significantly more expensive. Because transporting a container from Shanghai to Genoa (Italy) has become 406% more expensive in the same period and now costs $9.662.
It is striking that the prices for transport from China in particular have exploded. Transport to Europe has increased the most, but transport to the United States has also become significantly more expensive. A container from Shanghai to Los Angeles or New York has become 238% and 178% more expensive respectively last year.
Transport to China increased less
transport to China has also become more expensive in the past year, but the price increase here is less extreme. From Europe and the United States, rates have increased by 50%. For example, a container from Rotterdam to Shanghai costs $1.546. That's a 49% price increase, but still $8.628 cheaper than the same route in reverse. The composite Drewry Index is up 293% in one year and now stands at a price of $6.257 for a '40 foot container'.
According to analysts, there are several reasons for the price increase. The most important is the rapid recovery of the Chinese economy, which is much faster than in the Western countries. But also the serious disruptions of the logistics chains - as a result of which many containers are in the wrong place - and a lack of investment in, among other things, new containers. A fall in prices for container transport is therefore not expected for the time being.
Jurphaas Lugtenburg
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