The heavy rain, snow, and strong winds continue to pose challenges to the smooth operation of the China-Europe freight trains. Under severe cold weather, the customs clearance at Alashankou had been prolonged to in 5-12 days, which is twice the time of that compared to two months ago. Khorgos, Manzhouli and Erlianhot are less affected by the weather, and the transshipment is stable with a limited handling time varies from 3-7 days, 5-10 days and 6-15 days respectively. In addition, there has been an increase in blizzard weather in Poland and Germany, and trains bound for Duisburg and Hamburg may be delayed for 3-5 days after being repackaged from Mala.

The supply of spaces and freight rates for each route are as follows:

European route:

It had been 18 days since the Red Sea Crisis broke out, and after two attacks on its ships, shipping giant Maersk urgently announced on December 31st local time - suspending all transportation through the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden until January 2nd. According to data from S&P Global Community Insights, the current spot freight rates for Asia-Europe routes have skyrocketed to $4500-5000/FEU, while Maersk claims a basic freight rate of $10000/FEU from Shanghai to Djibouti. Affected by this, the popularity of the China-Europe rail service has returned, and the number of inquiries has surged recently. As the Christmas holiday draws to a close, the European clients will gradually return to work, which will possibly bring a small boom in orders after mid January.

WB: Last week, most platforms announced their adjustment in booking prices. With a significant increase in container rental prices and an increase in domestic trucking before Spring Festival , it is expected that the spot freight rates for European -bound service in January will exceed 20% compared with last month. At present, platforms such as Chengdu and Chongqing have a competitive advantage in booking prices, and the  spaces of early January are almost fully booked . The booking price of the Xi'an Express  has climbed to over $6000, with most spaces sold out. The spot freight from Yiwu to European terminals such as Duiburg and Hamburg has rapidly risen to around $6200, with  few spaces available for booking in the first ten days.

EB: The spot freight rates for returned trip are relatively stable. The prices of trains returning to Chongqing and Changsha in January remain unchanged , while some increase to cities such as Xi'an, Zhengzhou, and Dalian levels around $2200.

Russian route: 

The demand is weak as the new year’s holiday at Russia approaches, and the cargo volume is relatively low. In January, there were sufficient spaces, and some of the remaining spaces were mostly released by major platforms in the first half of the month. The booking prices have not changed much this week, with some routes sinking, with a change of about $50.

Central Asia route: 

There are abundant services from Xi'an to Central Asia, with sufficient supply in January - covering various stations in Almaty, Istanbul, Poti, Tashkent, and Baku. Some clients are considering their alternative plan to transship from Poti and Baku as the tensions at Red sea intensified.  

Article source: Cargo Talk