China-Australia rates: “Now getting silly”

WITH the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index showing mean spot rates from Shanghai to Sydney up another 10% for this week, Week 28 and Xeneta’s South East Asia- main ports Australia rates jumping 16% momentum is, if anything, gathering speed.

China-Australia now sits at USD 4,558/FEU – compared with USD 1,242/FEU in Week 11 – while SEA has hit USD 2,394/FEU, quite some distance from the year’s low, USD 1,611/FEU as recently as Week 20. 

“This is getting a bit silly,” one source commented, while another just said “remarkable!”.

There seems little prospect of China rates sliding anytime soon, with weather and congestion in several ports prompting omission notifications for some services, the latest prompted by Super Typhoon Bavi. Constrained services concentrates demand that’s barely being met. Remarkably, some services are still showing repeating blank voyages.

And the congestion at Asian ports is continuing to grow: DCN has been told MSC is considering abandoning Jakarta (for now) on its Koala service in favour of Laem Chabang.

Meanwhile, it seems regular extra-loader specialist TS Lines has succumbed to temptation with what now looks like a resumption of its CA3 service from China to East Coast ports, with three vessels now listed to arrive approximately fortnightly from next week: the 1,808 TEU TS Bangkok, 1,909 TEU TS Xiamen and the 2,693 TEU TS Nansha. Experience suggests these won’t be the last.

With all the focus on southbound cargo it’s unusual to receive an export-focused announcement, of Maersk’s resumption of its seasonal Melbourne Star weekly calls, for two months.

While DCN usually waits until week’s end to compile the latest notifications the volatility has prompted an earlier update: “You must need a spreadsheet for all these,” one contact suggested.

ANL has advised that the Australia Export & Import Terminal Handing Charges will be revised effective 24 July 2026  for all brands and applicable to all Australian ports and all cargo. Details can be found here .

ANL/CMA CGM also says that as part of ongoing efforts to enhance the efficiency of export (DRY) empty container releases, it is implementing as follows for all customers making bookings in Fremantle, effective 13 July.

“Moving forward, we kindly request that you specify your preferred depot location and required date at the time of booking to ensure smoother handling, accurate stock allocation, and faster processing times," the company stated.

Key points to note from ANL/CMA CGM:

1. Depot Selection at Booking Request

•  When placing a booking, please select/input your preferred depot & required date for receiving or dispatching stock.

•  ANL/CMA-CGM platform you can “select” and other platforms (If not supported, please indicate this in booking remarks/comment).
• Available Fremantle depots include: Tyne ACFS (Tyne ACFS Depot); ICS (ICS - Intermodal Container Services Depot); ICS Kenwick (ICS Kenwick Depot);  Qube (Qube Port Beach Depot).
• Please ensure only one depot is nominated in the equipment remarks while placing bookings.
• If no preference is indicated, stock will be allocated to the nearest available depot based on geographic proximity and operational capacity.
2. Optimising Stock Allocation
• By specifying your depot for DRY bookings, we can ensure that stock is managed in the most efficient manner, reducing lead times and improving overall service reliability.
• In cases of high demand or specific stock requirements, depot preferences will allow us to better accommodate your needs.

“We appreciate your cooperation, as we continue to optimize our services for greater efficiency. Please do not hesitate to contact the customer care team should you have any queries," ANL/CMA CGM stated.

In one of life’s curiosities MSC renamed its recently announced congestion surcharge (CGS) as the service disruption surcharge (SDS) and then days later reduced it from USD 500/TEU to 350/TEU.

But in the meantime, MSC announced a rate restoration of USD 500/TEU will be implemented on all cargo moving from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Philippines and Indonesia to Australia as of 15 July, i.e next Wednesday.

ONE has revised its PSS, effective this Friday 10 July, and it is downward. This was first announced as USD 450/TEU, 900/FEU – but now it is to be USD 250/TEU, 500/FEU, for both dry and reefer.