Lower sea freight rates will benefit China’s export-oriented companies in the fourth quarter,
which can be a practical driver to stimulate demand in the global market, said analysts and
exporters.
These comments came after spot rates for container shipments from Shanghai plunged 10.6
percent to $2,399 per forty-foot equivalent unit (FEU) on Sept 30, which have shown a
downward trend for 20 weeks on the route to the west coast of North America, according to the
latest data released by the Shanghai Shipping Exchange.
On the route to Europe, spot rates waned by 6.7 percent to $2,950 per twenty-foot equivalent
unit (TEU), which have continued a downward trend for 18 straight weeks.
Affected by factors such as the disruption by the COVID-19 pandemic, insufficient shipping
capacity and global markets’ soaring demand, the cost of a standard container from China to the
United States west coast was around $20,000 in September last year.
Due to the launch of new container vessels and shipping companies’ move to deploy more
container carriers between China and the US, it is not surprising to see cargo rates falling..
The lower shipping rates can help domestic companies ease the burden on logistics
expenditures and cut goods’ costs in many parts of the world, as freight rates represent a fairly
large part of total costs — even more than the value of goods at times.

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