Freight rates for shipping containers from Asia to Europe halved in the early weeks of the year as lines were hammered by an unprecedented collapse in cargo volumes.
New industry figures show the Asia-Europe route was worst hit by the sudden drop in trade that precipitated a price war, with westbound rates in January falling to 45% of the 2008 average, according to the European Liner Affairs Association, which has just started publishing price data.
Plunging rates coincided with an 18% decline in liftings compared with volumes a year earlier.
February rate data, due to be released tomorrow, could be far worse, given the 32% year-on-year dive in Asia-Europe cargo around the Chinese new year shutdown.
Statistics compiled by the ELAA, which represents most of the world’s top container lines and gathers its data from members, show that rates from Europe to Asia were down by a third, averaging 66% of the mean for last year.
Other trade routes tracked by the ELAA fared better, with the index for eastbound transatlantic rates standing at 96, based on the 2008 average equalling 100. The westbound transatlantic index was slightly lower at 83.
Another relatively good performer was the route from Australasia to Europe where the index held up fairly well in January at 96. On the southbound leg, the price index was weaker at 88.
Rates from Europe to the Indian sub-continent stood at 79% of 2008 levels in January, with the westbound route weaker as the index sank to 61.
The ELAA data is likely to consist of a combination of spot and contract rates, with some individual prices almost certainly falling by considerably more in early January as panic swept through the container shipping industry and lines tried to hold onto customers in the face of a steep decline in ship utilisation levels that enabled shippers to pick and choose.
Senior executives privately admit that, without the conference system which would have allowed lines to share market data, individual carriers were unsure at first whether some were suffering more than others from a freefall of volumes and rates.
That lack of transparency compounded the situation as each line tried to maintain load factors.
New industry figures show the Asia-Europe route was worst hit by the sudden drop in trade that precipitated a price war, with westbound rates in January falling to 45% of the 2008 average, according to the European Liner Affairs Association, which has just started publishing price data.
Plunging rates coincided with an 18% decline in liftings compared with volumes a year earlier.
February rate data, due to be released tomorrow, could be far worse, given the 32% year-on-year dive in Asia-Europe cargo around the Chinese new year shutdown.
Statistics compiled by the ELAA, which represents most of the world’s top container lines and gathers its data from members, show that rates from Europe to Asia were down by a third, averaging 66% of the mean for last year.
Other trade routes tracked by the ELAA fared better, with the index for eastbound transatlantic rates standing at 96, based on the 2008 average equalling 100. The westbound transatlantic index was slightly lower at 83.
Another relatively good performer was the route from Australasia to Europe where the index held up fairly well in January at 96. On the southbound leg, the price index was weaker at 88.
Rates from Europe to the Indian sub-continent stood at 79% of 2008 levels in January, with the westbound route weaker as the index sank to 61.
The ELAA data is likely to consist of a combination of spot and contract rates, with some individual prices almost certainly falling by considerably more in early January as panic swept through the container shipping industry and lines tried to hold onto customers in the face of a steep decline in ship utilisation levels that enabled shippers to pick and choose.
Senior executives privately admit that, without the conference system which would have allowed lines to share market data, individual carriers were unsure at first whether some were suffering more than others from a freefall of volumes and rates.
That lack of transparency compounded the situation as each line tried to maintain load factors.