China's container shipping freight rates have risen 17 perecnt this year, approaching 2008 highs, as global trade continues to recover from depressed levels in 2009, the Shanghai Shipping Exchange said on Friday.
The China Containerized Freight Index (CCFI), which takes data from most of the leading liners with operations in China, hit 1,168.31 points for the week ended Feb 26, the exchange said in its Website.
The index has gained about 4 percent from Feb 12. Last February it was as high as 1,200 points and its record high was 1,255 points set in October 2004. The index was started in 1998.
A spike in demand for goods made in China at the end of last year helped container ports in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Shenzhen shrug off months of decline to return to growth in December.
"Freight rates were boosted by a cargo rush before the Chinese New Year but the market now is generally quiet with mainland workers not fully returning to work after the holiday," said Sunny Ho, executive director of the Hong Kong Shippers Council that represents importers and exporters.
China, on track to pass Germany to become the world's largest exporter this year, saw its exports reverse course to rise 17.7 percent in December and 21 percent in January after being battered by the global financial crisis for most of last year.
The CCFI has risen 17 percent this year and analysts say carriers are trying to push through more rate hikes after they idled some of their capacity and implemented slow steaming to minimise the impact of oversupply.
Nomura recently upgraded its rating for the Asian container shipping sector to neutral from bearish after the year got off to a better than expected start and loss-making trans-Pacific routes began seeing signs of recovery, it said in a research report.
Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL), a unit of Orient Overseas (International) Ltd (0316.HK), has said it will impose a general rate increase, a restoration rate programme and a peak season surcharge in various routes within the next two months.
"The rate increases may help container ship operators to return to profit in the second half," said Gideon Lo, an analyst at DBS Vickers.
About 75 percent of container freight rates for trans-Pacific routes are under contracts that probably would not be subject to the increase in spot rates until the contracts expire, usually in May, analysts said.
Industry watchers noted a shortage of supply in container boxes in China after the market underestimated demand, which dropped about 90 percent in 2009. The slow steaming of ships also delayed the turnaround time of boxes.
"The leasing fee for container boxes posted a high single digit increase in January and February from the same period last year," an industry source said.
Last month, container throughput in major Chinese container ports rose sharply after returning to growth in December.
Shanghai, the world's second busiest container port after Singapore, handled 17.9 percent more container boxes, Shenzhen's throughput rose 16.14 percent and Hong Kong was up 17.1 percent, partly helped by low comparision base a year earlier.
The China Containerized Freight Index (CCFI), which takes data from most of the leading liners with operations in China, hit 1,168.31 points for the week ended Feb 26, the exchange said in its Website.
The index has gained about 4 percent from Feb 12. Last February it was as high as 1,200 points and its record high was 1,255 points set in October 2004. The index was started in 1998.
A spike in demand for goods made in China at the end of last year helped container ports in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Shenzhen shrug off months of decline to return to growth in December.
"Freight rates were boosted by a cargo rush before the Chinese New Year but the market now is generally quiet with mainland workers not fully returning to work after the holiday," said Sunny Ho, executive director of the Hong Kong Shippers Council that represents importers and exporters.
China, on track to pass Germany to become the world's largest exporter this year, saw its exports reverse course to rise 17.7 percent in December and 21 percent in January after being battered by the global financial crisis for most of last year.
The CCFI has risen 17 percent this year and analysts say carriers are trying to push through more rate hikes after they idled some of their capacity and implemented slow steaming to minimise the impact of oversupply.
Nomura recently upgraded its rating for the Asian container shipping sector to neutral from bearish after the year got off to a better than expected start and loss-making trans-Pacific routes began seeing signs of recovery, it said in a research report.
Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL), a unit of Orient Overseas (International) Ltd (0316.HK), has said it will impose a general rate increase, a restoration rate programme and a peak season surcharge in various routes within the next two months.
"The rate increases may help container ship operators to return to profit in the second half," said Gideon Lo, an analyst at DBS Vickers.
About 75 percent of container freight rates for trans-Pacific routes are under contracts that probably would not be subject to the increase in spot rates until the contracts expire, usually in May, analysts said.
Industry watchers noted a shortage of supply in container boxes in China after the market underestimated demand, which dropped about 90 percent in 2009. The slow steaming of ships also delayed the turnaround time of boxes.
"The leasing fee for container boxes posted a high single digit increase in January and February from the same period last year," an industry source said.
Last month, container throughput in major Chinese container ports rose sharply after returning to growth in December.
Shanghai, the world's second busiest container port after Singapore, handled 17.9 percent more container boxes, Shenzhen's throughput rose 16.14 percent and Hong Kong was up 17.1 percent, partly helped by low comparision base a year earlier.