Shares of Danish shipping and logistics company Maersk (AMKBY) surged over 7.5% on Monday, driven by the impact of rising shipping fees.
This increase stems from significant cost hikes projected for shipping containers from China to Europe in June 2024. Since October, these costs have surged by approximately 400%.
The crisis in the Red Sea over the past two weeks and unexpectedly high demand have caught many companies arranging shipments from Asia to Europe unprepared. As a result, indices tracking urgent shipping costs this week began to reflect changes previously only reported in informal discussions within the industry.
Last week, Drewry’s World Container Index (WCI) recorded a 20% increase for the Shanghai-Rotterdam route compared to the previous week, reaching $3,709 for a 40-foot container. This increase mirrored the Xeneta XSI, which also rose to $3,716, marking a 15% increase.
Alongside these rising urgent shipping rates, the availability of shipping space from Asia is becoming more limited. As reported by shipping companies and agents in the sector, this scarcity has enabled shipping firms to prefer higher-paying shipments known as Free Alongside Ship (FAK) over long-term contracts.
Last week, Loadstar reported that Maersk planned to implement an additional $1,500 charge per 40-foot container on the Asia to Northern Europe route starting from May 11. However, according to Loadstar, there are indications that this peak season pricing may have been previously implemented.
Source: investing.com
