AFTER falling for five consecutive weeks from the second week of November the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index for the China-Australia route bounced up by over USD 300 to 3844 per FEU this week.

But trade watchers are not convinced this will be long-lasting, with DCN told that while there’s still a huge volume of spot cargo moving, rates are jumping around week by week and port by port and this volatility “can somewhat misrepresent the market”.

“In Australia we set northbound rates for a three-month period. But in China, southbound, it’s week-to-week, day-to-day,” DCN was told. “The market responds to tonnage on the berth that week. So, theoretically, there are eight Australian service calls each week – but if, for whatever reason, that changes, say six one week and ten the next, you’ve got the recipe for fluctuations.”

After a number of notifications for 1 and 15 December rises, DCN has seen only two for January so far. But as the watcher said, most carriers will follow the market leaders but make no announcements of their own.

ANL will be implementing a General Rate Increase (GRI) from 1 January 2025, at USD 500 per TEU dry/reefer & USD 1000 per FEU dry/reefer for all shipments from North East Asia to Australia East Coast, Fremantle, Adelaide and New Zealand. This increase will apply on top of current Spot/FAK rates subject to all applicable surcharges valid on time of shipment.

Similarly, COSCO Shipping Line will implement Rate Restoration in full on top of existing ongoing market rates and will be subject to accessorial surcharges on its southbound Asia to Australia service as below. The Rate Restoration (RR) is applicable to all southbound shipments from Northeast Asia to all ports and points in Australia at USD 500 per TEU, USD 1000 per FEU, effective for all Bills of Lading dated 1 January 2025 onwards.

In better news for shippers Neptune Pacific Direct Line has advised that the PSS announced on 1 July 2024, at a rate of USD 275.00 per TEU (on both Dry & Reefer) for shipments from NZ to Fiji, Samoa, American Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Wallis & Futuna, Solomon Islands, Marshal Islands and Micronesia, will be removed effective 1 January 2025.