Asia-Europe rates off 1.5pc to US$1,218/TEU, transpac suffers slight slip

AFTER a short-lived rebound in mid-December, Asia-Europe rates declined for second week in a row to US$1,218 per TEU on December 28, down 1.5 per cent or $19 per TEU from previous week, according to the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI).

SCFI Asia-Mediterranean rates also experienced a fall to US$1,104 per TEU in the last week of December, down 2.3 per cent or $26 per TEU from previous week. The rate drops in both Europe and Mediterranean trades put pressure on the forthcoming January rate increases.

Transpacific trades are facing a downturn on both US east and west coasts trades. SCFI Asia-US west coast rates fell 0.4 per cent or $8 per FEU to $2,223 per FEU in the last week of December, while Asia-US east coast rates also shrank 0.7 per cent or $23 per FEU to $3,364 per FEU.

But the upside is that the 2012 year-end rates of the world's two largest trade lanes were much higher than they had been at the end of 2011. Asia-Europe rates were only $701 per TEU in the last week of 2011, Asia-Mediterranean rates stood at $714 per TEU, while Asia-US west coast rates were $1,692 per FEU and Asia-US east coast rates $2,892 per FEU on December 30, 2011.