Freight Rates Down on Falling Bunker Prices, Overcapacity: Drewry

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Friday January 8, 2016

Drewry Shipping Consultants Limited (Drewry) says data from its Drewry Benchmarking Club Contract Rate Index shows contract ocean freight rates on major East-West trade routes experienced another fall in 2015's last quarter, due to falling bunker prices, overcapacity, and "intense competition" between carriers.

Data from Ship & Bunker shows that the average price of IFO380 bunkers across Singapore, Rotterdam, Fujairah, and Houston for the Q4 period fell from $230.50 per metric tonne (pmt) on October 1, 2015 to $158.50 pmt on December 31, 2015 - a decline of 34.9 percent.

The Drewry Benchmarking Club Contract Rate Index is said to have fallen as much as 14 percent between February and November of 2015, a trend that Drewry notes was mirrored in the spot market.

Drewry also notes that some of the contract rate fall can be linked to carriers allowing shippers temporary reductions in contract rates in order to secure cargo.

On Tuesday, Ship & Bunker reported that data from the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) shows that freight rates for Asia to Northern Europe routes jumped 115 percent to $1,232 per TEU during the week ending last Friday.