Foggy weather at China’s key container ports of Shanghai and Ningbo has worsened the congestion, pushing up waiting times for ships just as exporters are rushing to send their goods to Europe and the US.
Linerlytica’s report this week estimates 1.5 million teu of shipping capacity is being held up in North Asian ports.
China’s National Meteorological Centre claimed dense fog gave visibility of less than 1km in the Bohai Sea, most of the Yellow Sea, north-western East China Sea, Yangtze river estuary, Hangzhou Bay and the Zhoushan.
Supply chain consultant PSA BDP, part of terminal operator PSA International, confirmed that since 27 March, heavy fog had blanketed Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta area.
It added: “Ocean-going sailing schedules have been affected, with vessel arrivals and departures occurring off-schedule. It has been reported that the average delays for ships arriving at the Waigaoqiao terminal is three to seven days, and two to three days at the Yangshan terminal.”
And Linerlytica noted: “These delays coincided with a surge in demand for European cargo, with shippers bringing forward their usual peak season shipments, causing a sharp spike in freight rates. The Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI) rates to North Europe surged 30.8% to reach a new 18-month high.”
On Friday, the SCFI showed a 30% gain (from 22 May) in the Shanghai-North Europe rate, to $2,475 per teu. Per 40ft, the rise was 30.8%, to $4,175.
Encouraged by successful peak season surcharges last month, mainline operators are pushing for a further mid-June rate hike, with announced FAK prices lifted to $6,000 per 40ft.
The SCFI also showed a jump in transpacific rates, with the Shanghai-US West Coast rate increasing nearly 32%, to $4,149 per 40ft and the Shanghai-US East Coast rate up 24%, to $5,333 per 40ft.
Transpacific demand remains very firm, with Chinese exports to the US rebounding strongly due to the removal of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act tariffs that have been replaced by the lower Section 122 blanket tariffs.
US president Donald Trump initially imposed tariffs on all imports, under the IEEPA, which had no cap. In February, the US Supreme Court struck down the IEEPA tariffs as unlawful. The Trump administration then imposed tariffs under Section 122 of the US Trade Act of 1974 that capped tariffs at 15% and could only be enforced for 150 days.
Under Section 122, these tariffs expire on 24 July, prompting Asian exporters to ship out their goods before the regime changes again.