Shanghai port boosted by spike in exports

A frantic rush of outbound shipments has hit China’s busiest port, Shanghai, on the eve of Chinese New Year following an unexpected spike in export orders, the China Daily reported.

"The outgoing vessels that mainly head for Europe and America have been over-booked since last December in Shanghai," said Michelle Wang, deputy general manager of the ocean freight department for east and central China at UniLogistics, a privately owned Chinese freight forwarding company.

"We've seen the container freight price increase as high as US$200 per TEU since the start of this year."

According to Wang, the shipping price for cargo containers, on average, has risen three times on average a week since January.

China Containerized Freight Index (CCFI) rose 7.7 percent in a month to stand at 1,081.67 points on February 5, reflecting the turnaround in international seaborne trade.

"The recent super-spike of outbound container business has surpassed our expectations," said Li Dong, an analyst at Zheshang Securities.

"It's a very strained shipping capacity in the market, despite the price hikes on several occasions this year."

Figures from Shanghai International Port (Group), the exclusive operator of all the public terminals in the port of Shanghai, showed that both the container transport turnover and freight throughput in December 2009 saw year-on-year growth for the first time after an 11-month consecutive decline.

Source: Port News