China shipping to South-East Asia sees prices surge tenfold as reopening demand picks up

Shipping rates from China to surrounding Asian countries have soared amid the peak season ahead of the Lunar New Year, adding fuel to an already overheated global shipping market disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The South-East Asian routes of the Ningbo Containerised Freight Index, which reflects the spot rate of container ships departing from the Ningbo-Zhoushan port – the world’s largest port by cargo tonnage – recorded a price surge in the past month and reached an all-time high, with freight costs to Thailand and Vietnam rising 137 per cent from the end of October to the first week of this month, while the Singapore-Malaysia freight costs also increased by 49 per cent.