Key insights:

Typhoon In-Fa, which battered central China last week, disrupted air, ocean and land freight, and is expected to be felt through mid-week. Lockdowns in Vietnam likewise continue to impact logistics significantly in the region, even as the industry already struggles with delays and congestion. As peak season heats up, rates on the transpacific continue to climb to new highs.

Asia-US rates:
Analysis

  • Asia-US West Coast prices (FBX01 Daily) are $18,345/FEU. This rate is 566% higher than the same time last year.
  • Asia-US East Coast prices (FBX03 Daily) are $19,620/FEU, and are 487% higher than rates for this week last year.

On the heels of natural disasters in Canada and Europe, Typhoon In-Fa made landfall on China’s central coast at the end of last week, disrupting operations at ports in Shanghai and Ningbo, and cancelling flights at airports in the region. Operations are expected to rebound by mid-week, though the storm will further challenge an industry already struggling with delays and congestion.

Lockdowns due to the coronavirus outbreak in Vietnam continue to cause serious problems for logistics in the region. Miranda Qin, Project Manager at Seabay Logistics, a China-based freight forwarder and logistics provider on the Freightos.com marketplace, reports that operations are being significantly impacted in many ways ranging from “cancelled flights, sailings and rail service, to increasing difficulty securing containers or chassis, or even getting email replies from our logistics partners there.”

These latest disruptions as well as sustained peak levels of demand continue to put tremendous pressure on ocean rates, keeping them extremely elevated or climbing, even as carriers announce significant upcoming surcharges on ex-Asia lanes. Prices on transpacific lanes with the aforementioned update are now at record highs of $18,346/FEU to the West Coast, more than 6x its level a year ago, and an astounding $19,620/FEU to the East Coast, more than quintuple its rate last July – even as the peak of peak season may still be ahead of us.

Rates from Asia - N. Europe, for example, climbed 4% since last week, but are more than eight times higher than a year ago, and have increased nearly two and half times since the start of the year on a combination of scarce containers, clogged ports and growing demand.