After a long period of skyrocketing growth, sea container freight rates have cooled down.

Recently, the Vietnam Maritime Administration said that sea freight rates have begun to gradually decrease since the beginning of July 2024 until now.

Accordingly, by mid-August, freight rates have decreased on all routes, the strongest being the route from Europe to the West Coast of the US and Europe with a decrease of about 20-30% compared to the previous month. Prices on other shipping routes have also decreased by about 15% -25%.

The Maritime Administration said that currently, the price reduction is equal to 44% compared to the peak price in September 2021, which was the period of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sea freight rates cool down, export enterprises "breathe a sigh of relief". PHOTO: VASEP

Speaking with PLO, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tuan, member of the Ho Chi Minh City Logistics Association and director of Blue Sea Trading Transport Company Limited, also acknowledged: Since the beginning of August, the situation of ship congestion and difficulty in booking containers has disappeared, transportation prices have decreased, but are still high.

For example, Mr. Tuan gave an example that shipping rates to the EU region have now decreased to 6,000 - 8,000 USD depending on the industry. Similarly, shipping rates to the West Coast are around 5,000 - 6,000 USD/40-foot container. According to Mr. Tuan, compared to the hot period in the first and second quarters of 2024, the prices have decreased a lot.

However, shipping rates to the East Coast are still high at around 9,000 - 10,000 USD/40-foot container.

"Compared to the previous period, shipping rates have cooled down. This is a good sign for export enterprises in seeking growth in the last months of the year,” said Mr. Tuan.

On the side of the Vietnam Maritime Administration, this unit expects that sea freight rates will continue to decrease in the coming time due to some positive impacts from the market and the phenomenon of congestion at some major ports no longer occurring.

Also according to the Vietnam Maritime Administration, thanks to the decrease in freight rates, the output of maritime goods is showing signs of growth. In the first 7 months of 2024, the output reached nearly 500 million tons, an increase of 15% over the same period in 2023.

Source: Phap Luat Online