Freight Rates Jump after Hanjin Collapse

 

It appears that the strategy of Maersk Line, the world’s largest shipping group which cuts down shipping fees until its competitors fall down and pick fruit when they are liquidated, is working. 

 

As most shipping volumes that Hanjin Shipping lost have passed to Maersk and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), all South Korea, which once considered itself as a global leader in the shipping industry, can do is watch “a feast of winners” caused by the rise in shipping charges.

 

Container spot costs skyrocketed once right after Hanjin Shipping filed for court receivership. Container spot freight rates on the world's busiest routes from Asia to Northern Europe jump 36.6 percent to $949 per twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) in September. Rates increased by 51 percent to the U.S West Coast and 45 percent to the U.S. East Coast.

 

According to Shanghai Shipping Exchange (SSE) on December 21, the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI), a representative measure that tracks spot rates of shipping containers, 

 

Foreign shipping companies are highly likely to receive all the fruits caused by the rise in spot rates.