Container

It was a mixed week of fortunes for the key FBX routes. We are just two months away from the end of the suspension of the USTR imposed fees on Chinese owned/built vessels paying fees for US port calls.

These fees could higher than USD1 million for a typical container vessel on the FBX01/FBX03 trades. With rates on both these routes at much higher than “normal” rates, it will be interesting to see if these fees continue to be suspended, as rates will otherwise increase further as any charges will end up being passed on to the shippers and eventually the consumers buying the end products.

The cross Pacific trade loop FBX01 (China/East Asia – US West Coast) gained $146 from last Friday ending the week at $7,715 and is up $1,583 since the start of July.

Rates from the Far East to the USEC FBX03 (China/East Asia – US East Coast) increased by $274 from last Friday ending at $9,779. This route is up $1,882 since the start of Q3. Trade into the North Continent from the Far East FBX11 (China/East Asia – North Europe) decreased by $113 week-on-week, ending the week at $4,338 and is down $472 since the start of July. Trade into the Mediterranean from the Far East FBX13 (China/East Asia – Mediterranean) lost $512 from the end of last week, ending the week at $3,929 and is down $2,606 from the start of Q3.