Drewry: Spot Container Rates Surge after Hanjin Collapse

Hanjin Shipping Spot container freight rates on the major routes from Asia soared by up to 42% on September 1 following the collapse of South Korean container carrier Hanjin Shipping, according to data provided by Drewrys World Container Index. Rate assessment increased by 42% to USD 1,674 per 40ft container on the Shanghai-Los Angeles route, by 19% to USD 2,151 on the Shanghai-New York route and by 39% to USD 1,826 on the Shanghai-Rotterdam route. Unpredictable freight rates are not new phenomenon in the container industry, however a major upheaval of supply like this is likely to cause extreme short-term price volatility. Shippers should expect increasing freight costs and tight allocation for several weeks at least, said Richard Heath, general manager of WCI. The Hanjin bankruptcy means a shock to the market – some of our shipper customers are making contingency plans and asked us to assess the impact of this on their supply chains, said Philip Damas, director at Drewry, which jointly owns WCI alongside Cleartrade Exchange.