Maritime logistics has always been an important link in textile foreign trade, and shipping prices also directly affect profits.

When some emergencies occur, for example, during the peak period of the previous public health incident, the price of sea freight almost increased every day, which caused a huge impact on textile companies.

Now, freight forwarders are warning customers that demand for Asia-Europe shipping is starting to look similar to what it was at the height of the pandemic.

Shipping companies are implementing peak season surcharges and GRI on "long-term and short-term contracts", and Hapag-Lloyd, Mediterranean Shipping Company and CMA CGM have all announced increases in ocean freight rates from the Far East to Europe. However, a British freight forwarder revealed that the freight rates announced by the shipping companies were quickly withdrawn because they had been replaced by higher prices.

In addition, freight forwarders also mentioned that due to market tightness and adjustments to shipping company strategies, many shipping companies have closed the booking mechanism for FAK and spot slots and will not reopen until June or later. This means that even if they are willing to pay higher freight rates, they may not be able to book space in time, which further exacerbates tensions in the freight market.

Unrelated routes have also been affected. For example, freight rates on the Asia-Latin America route have increased significantly. The current freight rate is US$9,000 to US$10,000 per 40 feet, and capacity is being transferred to more profitable routes.

In addition, contract and spot rate levels have begun to diverge. Long-term contract rates are very different from short-term rates, with some differences even exceeding US$3,000 per 40 feet DC. Shipping lines are increasingly prioritizing and loading higher-revenue cargoes to mitigate dismal financial results in Q4'23 and, to some extent, mediocre results in Q1'24.

The weight of our automatic drawing-in machine,Costs have increased significantly.