Business Data
Global industry overview - container rates: still depressed by overcapacity
The g lobal recovery is g iving s ome g rounds for optimism about container s hipping rates in 20 14 , but it will take s ome time before real improvements are felt. In fact, during the firs t quarter rates have remained volatile and have on the whole continued to weaken relative to 20 13. The comprehensive Shanghai Container Freig ht Index (SCFI) - the bes t available indicator of g lobal box rates - averag ed 1,113.54 in the firs t quarter of 20 14 , repres enting a quarter-onquarter (q-o-q) improvement of 8% on the fourth quarter of 20 13, but a year-on-year (y-o-y) drop of 5.8% relative to Q113. Rates to the US West Coast had the s trong es t q-o-q rebound (+13%), but remained poor on a yearly comparis on (-14%). Rates on the As ia-Europe routes als o remained weak - down by 3% q-o-q and by 12% y-o-y.