Container shuttles active on major Indian export trade routes seem to have no choice but to forgo recent strong freight price increases to keep their ship space utilization as close as possible to the declared load allocation. The average immediate freight from western India to northern Europe has fallen by $600 to $1,000/container compared to the end of August, according to new data from local freight agents.
Accept “Business Magazine”Sales executives from several Mumbai freight companies interviewed said that all direct September flights departing from Nawashiba had open reserved seats on trade routes departing from Nawasheba, and one senior executive, who did not want to reveal his name, said: “Freight volumes have tightened as the bulk cargo flows related to the peak of demand.” “We expect interest rates to fall further in the short term.”
By carrier statistics, as of Wednesday, the spot booking rates from Navashava/Mondera to Felixto/London Port/Southampton or Rotterdam are: Herbrot — $4,447 per TEU, $4,447 per FEU $4,486 per FEU; Masky $3,802 and $3,902; and CMA CGM $4,119 and $4,296.
In India's trade with the US East Coast, despite a series of invalid calls on the network throughout the month, sea freight rates continued to slide into September, data showed that spot quotes from major shipping companies have halved in the past three weeks. Shipping prices for each Nhava Sheva-New York carrier are: Hapag-Lloyd — $5,295 per TEU, $5,445 per FEU; Masky — $3,949 and $4,754; CMA CGM — $5,432 and $6,032.
BP Energy Information, a sister company to Standard Poole's global business magazine, as of Sept. 10, had an immediate India-U.S. East Coast exchange rate of $5,000 per FEU, down 6% this week.
With the dynamics of supply and demand rapidly shifting to the shipper side,All General Rate Increases (GRI) and Peak Season Surcharge (PSS) schemes that have not been launched at various stages since early AugustAll have now been postponed to October, even though carriers say they are still skeptical about their ability to succeed in the short term.
Attempts to adjust loading rates in the eastern United States and the Gulf of Mexico include Delta Air Lines (CMA CGM) at $1,000 per container PSS announced from October 1, and Mediterranean Shipping Co. $1,500 GRI per container launched from October 5. A surge in sea freight charges in the early part of the second half of the year has been a concern for Indian exporters, who are trying to capitalise on the growth in incremental demand driven by the diversification of intra-Asian trade.
