Recent analysis by Linerlytica highlights a significant surge in the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI), marking its highest point since September 2022, with an 18.8% increase post-holiday break, reaching a 20-month peak. This escalation is attributed to widespread concerns over diminishing vessel space, contrasting the January surge that was primarily confined to Red Sea-affected routes. The current upsurge encompasses all long-haul routes, driven by a robust demand resurgence ahead of the summer peak season. Linerlytica points out that carriers, including Maersk, are exacerbating the situation by reporting a 15-20% capacity reduction on Asia-Europe and Med routes.
Linerlytica's analysis further reveals that, despite the perceived capacity crunch, the demand surge and equipment scarcity have caught the market off-guard. April saw a tripling in new dry box production, reaching 520,000 TEUs, with production slots fully booked until the end of July.
The report also contrasts the effective capacity to North Europe from Asia, which has seen a 5.1% decrease, with the Asia-Med route experiencing a 10.5% increase in effective capacity. This is in spite of a 28% overall increase in vessel capacity deployed on the Asia-Europe/Med routes, which contradicts Maersk's claims of widespread capacity loss, highlighting a 0.3% increase in effective capacity year-over-year.
Source: container-news.com