Bottlenecks in the global shipping industry are difficult to eliminate(5)

Bottlenecks in the global shipping industry are difficult to eliminate(5)

The shortage of dry bulk carriers is also tending to be prolonged. On August 26, the charter fee for the Cape of Good Hope for large dry bulk carriers was as high as US$50,100, which was 2.5 times that of early June. Charter fees for large dry bulk ships transporting iron ore and other vessels have risen rapidly, reaching a high in about 11 years. The Baltic Shipping Index (1000 in 1985), which comprehensively shows the market for dry bulk carriers, was 4195 points on August 26, the highest level since May 2010.

The rising freight rates of container ships have boosted container ship orders.

Data from the British research firm Clarkson showed that the number of container ship construction orders in the first half of this year was 317, the highest level since the first half of 2005, an increase of 11 times over the same period last year.

The demand for container ships from large global shipping companies is also very high. The order volume in the first half of 2021 has reached the second-highest level in the history of the half-year order volume.

The increase in shipbuilding orders has pushed up the price of container ships. In July, Clarkson's container newbuilding price index was 89.9 (100 in January 1997), a year-on-year increase of 12.7 percentage points, reaching a high of about nine and a half years.

According to data from the Shanghai Shipping Exchange, the freight rate for 20-foot containers sent from Shanghai to Europe in late July was US$7,395, a year-on-year increase of 8.2 times; 40-foot containers sent to the east coast of the United States were US$10,100 each, since 2009 For the first time since statistics are available, the US$10,000 mark has been exceeded; in mid-August, container freight to the West Coast of the United States rose to US$5,744 (40 feet), an increase of 43% from the beginning of the year.