Sea Freight Rates Falling Between India & China
Freight rates for commodity export between China and India has dropped by more than 50% following the introduction of express-services by leading global container shipping liners between these countries.
International shipping companies like K Line, Maersk Sealand, Mediterranean Shipping Company, Wan Hai Lines, Hyundai, Norasia, CMA CGM, MISC, Hanjin, Evergreen, in addition to the Shipping Corporation of India, have lately introduced express services between India and China.
Freight rates have shown a drastic fall of as much as 65 % within the last 5-6 months (as compared to prices during the first quarter of this year). Sea cargo has expanded by a whopping 30% from volumes in the previous year.
Take for example, the reduced freight charges of US$100 for shipping a 20-feet container to Shanghai from Mumbai. Six months back this would have cost you three times (US$ 300). The shipping corporation of india (SCI) director, Sudhir S Rangnekar points out that companies are planning more services for this route, which will in turn fuel the growth in the volumes of container’s being shipped.
China has around 60 shipping ports. The annual cargo handling capacity of these ports is around a staggering 50 million tons. Most of its important ports are well connected with the hinterland through ‘high-grade’ roads, railways, forming an international container transport system including ocean transport, loading and unloading at the ports, as well as inland transport.
The trade Sino-Indian trade stands at an impressive US$ 17.4 billion and is poised for expansion at an approximate annual rate of 38%. It’s expected that the size of the bilateral trade will surpass the figure of US$ 20 billion prior to 2008. Presently, as much as 90% of the volumes of containers transits through Tianjin, a port city 120 km from Beijing
The representative of a global shipping line points out the lack of availability of berths at Indian ports. Most shipping majors are keen to begin services at the Indian ports. R T Revankar, chief manager of the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust confirmed the crunch of berths for shipping services between India and China.