After the Spring Festival, ocean freight rates have risen overall

After the Spring Festival, ocean freight rates have risen overall, mainly affected by the large-scale blank sailings of container shipping lines during the holiday and tight vessel space supply. The price increase for shipments exported from Shanghai has been particularly notable.

According to data from a domestic shipping exchange, the SCFI index rose 81.65 points to 1333.11, up 6.52% week-on-week. Freight rates on all four major ocean routes increased:
 - Far East to West US US$70 per FEU to US$1,857
 - East US US$167 per FEU to US$2,691
 - Europe US$59 per FEU to US$1,420
 - Mediterranean US$128 per FEU to US$2,303

Short-haul routes showed divergence: rates to Kansai and Kanto (Japan) edged down slightly, while rates to Southeast Asia and South Korea remained flat. Current spot market quotes are slightly below the official index, with limited upside in the short term.
 Further upward momentum on the Europe route is expected to start after mid‑March, as a rush-order effect following the full resumption of production at Chinese factories may push rates higher.

Enterprises are accelerating adjustments to their shipping schedules. Some foreign trade orders have shifted to the China–Europe Railway Express and the New International Land–Sea Trade Channel in western China to ease capacity pressure.

Meanwhile, ports across the country are accelerating intelligent upgrades, using AI dispatching systems to improve loading and unloading efficiency and reduce vessel turnaround time.
 Starting March 2, a new batch of automated quay cranes was put into operation at Shanghai Yangshan Port, raising per-container efficiency by 12%. Combined with full coverage of the customs “advance declaration + direct pick-up alongside vessel” model, export customs clearance time has been shortened to within 4 hours.