China's export container transportation market analysis report in March 2023

1. The growth rate of port container throughput has slowed down, and the trend of ship leasing market continues to diverge.

① In the first two months, the operations of China's major ports were normal. From January to February 2023,
the container throughput of my country's ports showed a growth trend, but the increase slowed down slightly.
Among them, the throughput of inland ports was greater than that of coastal ports. According to statistics,
the container throughput of ports across the country was 44.14 million TEU, an increase of 1.3% compared with the same period last year.
Among them, coastal ports completed container throughput of 39.07 million TEU, a year-on-year increase of 0.6%;
inland ports completed container throughput of 5.07 million TEU, a year-on-year increase of 6.8%.

② After a long period of adjustment in the container charter market, the leasing price trends of different ship types continue to diverge,
with some small ship leasing prices rebounding and large ship leasing prices continuing to fall slightly.
According to Clarkson statistics, in March, the rent of 1,000TEU and 1,700TEU ships increased by 2.7% and 2.7% compared with the previous month;
the rent of 9,000TEU ships fell by 1.6% from the previous month.

2. European and continental freight rates continue to decline

For European routes, according to data released by the Center for European Economic Research (ZEW), Germany’s ZEW Economic Sentiment Index fell to 13 in March,
which was lower than the previous value and lower than market expectations.This is the first time this data has declined in six months.In addition,
 the consumer confidence index that month ended its previous five consecutive months of increases and turned to a slight decline,
indicating that consumers are not optimistic about the overall economic situation. In particular,
the recent turmoil in the banking industry in Europe and the United States has caused concerns in the European market about the economic prospects,
and future economic growth is facing a situation of sluggishness. In March, the demand for European route transportation was generally recovering.
The fundamentals of supply and demand gradually became balanced in the later period, and the booking price in the spot market gradually stabilized.
In March, the average freight index values for China's exports to Europe and the Mediterranean were 1,273.83 points and 1,773.73 points respectively,
down 10.9% and 8.7% respectively from the previous month.

3. North American market continues to adjust

For North American routes, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. retail sales fell by 0.4% month-on-month in February,
a decline greater than market expectations. Data show that in the face of stubbornly high inflation and high interest rates,
 American consumers are forced to cut back on spending. Especially after the turbulence and panic in the banking industry,
 residents' concerns about economic recession are intensifying, and future economic growth faces greater uncertainty.
In addition, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs,
my country's export trade volume to the United States fell by 15.2% year-on-year from January to February this year,
exerting downward pressure on the freight rates of North American routes in the container shipping market.
This month, the transportation market continues to be weak, the recovery of transportation demand is not as good as in previous years,
and market freight rates continue to trend downward. In March, the average freight index of China's exports to the West and East US routes were 733.91 points
 and 1062.14 points respectively, down 8.7% and 9.2% respectively from the previous month.

4. Australia and New Zealand markets continue to decline

For the Australia-New Zealand route, in early March, the local market demand for various materials has been hovering at a low level after the long holiday.
Transportation demand has recovered slowly, supply and demand fundamentals are weak,
and market freight rates continue to decline. Demand showed signs of stabilizing in the second half of the month,
supply and demand relations improved, and spot booking prices rebounded. In March, the average freight index for China's exports to Australia and New Zealand was 826.51 points, an average decrease of 17.7% from the previous month.

5. South American freight rates stabilize and rebound

For South American routes, the recovery of transportation demand is generally better than other routes.
The fundamentals of supply and demand are relatively stable, and the market freight rate trend is improving.
In the second half of the month, the spot market freight rate continued to rise. In March, the average freight index for
 China's exports to South America was 594.48 points, an average increase of 1.6% from the previous month.