FREIGHT rates from Asia to Australia have taken a pause this week, but only fools and horses would believe the stable door has been re-bolted.
The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index from Shanghai to Sydney for Week 40 slid back 4% to a mean of USD 5,666/FEU, after rising 7% last week. That brings to an end seven consecutive weeks of increases, and even then it was Week 28 when the last major fluctuation — upwards of course — took place, and that was 10%.
Nevertheless, rates from China have more than quadrupled since March.
In the South East Asia trades, Xeneta saw a standstill for Week 40, with prices increasing by just 5 bucks to USD 4,572/FEU. On this route rates have tripled since March.
While some are attributing the rates pause to the impact of successive Chinese national holidays, producing an over-supply of space in early October, unless these breaks in production enable congested PRC mainland ports to clear massive backlogs, it’s the inevitable that clearance will have been delayed as well as the ships.
With schedules showing ships on AIS scattered like a spilt bowl of Smarties, ports at both ends of the trade will be continually dealing with clusters of arrivals rendering booked windows works of fiction. Sea Intelligence has gone so far to estimate it could take 7-10 months to return congestion for congestion to return to the low levels seen in June 2025, or six to eight months merely to return to conditions prevailing at the end of last year.
Splash 24/7 has observed that makes it increasingly likely Asian congestion will only be partially resolved before the pre-Chinese New Year cargo rush, with the holiday falling on 6 February 2027!
Notifications of port omissions in Asia are daily occurrences and re-arranged port calls in Australia are almost as frequent. In these circumstances carriers, consortiums and VSAs with multiple strings are in much stronger positions than smaller competitors, although the run of typhoons is an ill wind for large and small.
For the NEAX consortium, mechanical problems that hit the doubtless fully-laden southbound 7.062 TEU Ever Smart off the Queensland coast last Friday, so severe the ship was forced to abandon East Coast calls and return to Asia at low speed for repairs, is the nightmare nobody needed, especially anyone with Christmas cargo on board.
There are still rate rise notifications coming through, of course.
ANL will be implementing a rate restoration program from 15 October 2026 at USD300 per 20’ dry/reefer & USD600 per 40’ dry/reefer for all shipments from South East Asia, Indian Sub-Continent & Middle East to Australia. This increase will apply on top of current Spot/FAK rates subject to all applicable surcharges valid on time of shipment.
On the same date ANL will rate-restore at USD500 per 20’ dry/reefer & USD1000 per 40’ dry/reefer for all shipments from North East Asia to Australia.
Again on 15 October, ANL will apply a rate restoration program at USD 600 per 20’ dry/nor & USD 1200 per 40’ dry/nor for all shipment from China/South East Asia/North East Asia/Indian Subcontinent/Middle East to New Zealand.
Separately, on 22 September ANL advised that with immediate effect, no breakbulk sawn timber packets or bundles of poles will be accepted on the New Zealand, New Caledonia, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu: Westpac Service service unless confirmation of fumigation is supplied by the exporter. Confirmation must be provided no later than 24 hours prior to the vessel commencing load operations.
CMA CGM says the renewed escalation in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb has pushed fuel prices sharply higher. Brent crude has been trading above USD 100 per barrel since early September, and bunker prices have followed suit across all regions.
CMA CGM is accordingly applying a new emergency fuel surcharge (EFS) for shipments from Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea to Europe, the US, Canada, and Latin America. The surcharge applies to dry cargo, out-of-gauge cargo, paying empty containers, and refrigerated (reefer) cargo. Surcharge amounts per TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) are as follows:
These levels will replace the EFS levels currently in effect and will be applicable as of 22 October (loading date), subject to regulatory filings where applicable, and until further notice.
Swire Shipping has announced two peak season surcharges, one from Australia to PNG and the Solomons, and one from Australia to American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Niue, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu. Both have been set at USD 150/TEU and 300/FEU, and both are applicable from 17 October.
Notifications from MSC include the application of a Panama Canal Emergency surcharge (PCE), prompted by ongoing restrictions due to low water, of USD 150 per container, effective 19 October.
Effective from 1 November MSC’s Bunker Recovery Charge from Australia will be as follows: