16% of container ship voyages cancelled in five weeks, with Far East and West Africa ship rental rates ranging from 18000 to 20000 yuan

The global container shipping market showed a significant deterioration in fundamentals at the beginning of the year, forcing shipping companies to strengthen their capacity management strategies. Uneven demand, pressure on freight rates, and high operational uncertainty have collectively led to a surge in blank sailings, particularly on east-west main routes.

According to Drury's analysis, the previous expectation of a seasonal rebound during the Lunar New Year period has been shattered, as demand continues to be sluggish and the capacity of east-west main routes continues to tighten. This cooling trend has been reflected in the level of freight charges. The Drewry World Container Index (WCI) fell 10% this week, reporting $2212/FEU on January 22, confirming a shift in the trend of major shipping routes.

The pressure on freight rates is spreading comprehensively: the trans Pacific route has fallen by 11%, the Asia Europe/Mediterranean route has fallen by 9%, and the trans Atlantic route has further fallen by 4%. At the same time, shipping companies are intensifying efforts to reduce capacity in order to avoid further deterioration of freight rates.

In the next five weeks, from week 5 to week 9, from January 26 to March 1, out of a total of 703 planned voyages, 109 voyages have been announced as cancelled, equivalent to 16% of the scheduled voyages. Drury Company provided a detailed explanation stating that the cancellation of flights is mainly concentrated on the East Pacific route (58%), followed by the Asia Europe/Mediterranean route (32%) and the West Atlantic route (10%), but also clarified that 86% of route services will still operate as planned.