Recently, at the monthly economic talk with the theme of “International Logistics and Shipping Situation” held by the Center for International Economics, Jia Dashan, deputy director of the Water Transport Science Research Institute of the Ministry of Transport, pointed out that in terms of tonnage, compared with 2019 , global shipping demand is expected to grow by 4.4% in 2021, while container demand will grow by more than 5%.
In terms of shipping capacity, compared with 2019, the size of the global shipping fleet will increase by 4.1% in 2020, and is expected to increase by 3% in 2021.
He pointed out that compared with 2019, global shipping demand is expected to increase by 1% this year, container growth by 5%, and shipping capacity and container supply scale will increase by 7.1% and 7.4% respectively. The overall fleet size is growing faster than the shipping volume, but freight rates have increased significantly.
In his view, increases in container ship rentals, seafarer costs, intermediary fees, and oil prices have all contributed to the surge in shipping costs.
Data show that the shipping price of 40-foot standard containers on the China-US East route has exceeded US$20,000, a year-on-year increase of 5 times.
The Shanghai Export Container Freight Index, which represents the spot price, announced on August 27, was recorded at 4385.62 points, continuing to hit a record high. Compared with the lowest point last year, the increase was More than 4 times.
Song Xiaoming, deputy general manager of Guangzhou Port Group, said that the current global container shipping capacity in operation reaches 24 million TEU, and the container volume reaches 48 million TEU. In the first half of the year, the shipping capacity from China to North America and Europe increased by 55% and 30%. However, the problem of “hard to find a cabin and a hard to find a box” is still getting worse.
In Song Xiaoming’s view, the fundamental reason for the shortage of transportation capacity is the low efficiency of transportation caused by port congestion and shortage of seamen.
At present, the average congestion time in basic European ports is 3 to 5 days, 10 to 12 days in ports in the western United States, and about 7 days in ports in the eastern United States. Recently, Asian ports such as Yantian Port and Ningbo Port have also experienced congestion. Congestion occurs one after another.
In addition, he emphasized that we should be wary of freight forwarders increasing prices at different levels, pushing up the entire shipping price.
Since the Ministry of Transport of China has strict management of shipping prices, the prices of all routes and various surcharges need to be reported to the Shanghai Shipping Exchange, so the basic charges of shipping companies are not Not too high.
However, the price increases of intermediate freight forwarding companies have doubled the price, causing considerable logistics cost pressure for the export of manufacturing companies.
Freight rates have skyrocketed, and the Ministry of Commerce: Measures have been taken
Since Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the logistics costs of related maritime transportation have soared more than 10 times. In addition, the second half of the year is the peak season for shipping, with strong demand and insufficient shipping capacity, so shipping prices have soared. Some sellers said that comparing the overall cross-border logistics freight rates in July and August, the increase was close to 50%.
High shipping costs squeeze sellers’ profits. Some sellers said that due to the soaring shipping costs, they have already lost every single order. Even so, it is still “hard to find a box.” At present, some freight forwarders have refused to accept low-value goods.
According to previous analyzes by many industry insiders, high shipping prices are likely to continue until next year.
A few days ago, at a regular press conference held by the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Gao Feng said: “The Ministry of Commerce, together with the Ministry of Transport, The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the State Administration for Market Regulation and other units have actively taken measures to increase container supply, enhance shipping capacity, and strengthen international cooperation.”
Local governments have also stepped up efforts to Shipping service guarantee for small and medium-sized enterprises helps enterprises reduce costs and losses.
According to the Zhejiang Daily report, in response to shipping problems, Zhejiang launched the international container “One Thing” to collect the cabin needs of foreign trade companies and feedback their demands to ships one to two months in advance. Shipping companies and freight forwarding companies.
Based on the collected demands of enterprises, the Zhejiang Provincial Commerce Department also collaborated with the Provincial Department of Transportation and the Provincial Seaport Group to increase shipping capacity and open e-commerce express routes.
In the first half of this year, Ningbo Zhoushan Port opened 18 new foreign trade routes, including 8 ocean trunk routes, and the total number of routes increased to 272.
In addition, the Zhejiang Provincial Commerce Department also organizes communication between foreign trade companies and shipping companies. Promote 1,580 key foreign trade companies in Zhejiang Province to sign cooperation agreements with shipping companies through “mutual guarantee of volume and price” and other methods, and the average contract freight rate will be reduced by at least 30%.
The Ministry of Commerce also stated that it will continue to work with relevant departments and localities to further study targeted measures and ensure stability. Foreign trade will smoothen international logistics work, strengthen cooperation with various trading partners, and work together to meet challenges.
The Ministry of Commerce has expressed its stance and I believe other local governments will take action next.
However, rising shipping prices and port congestion have become global problems, and sellers still need to make more preparations. </p
