Ocean freight rates have climbed to new highs as a shortage of shipping containers continues to squeeze the global market.
The average cost of shipping a standard container has risen by 20 per cent this year to more than $4,000, extending a rise that began in mid-November.
Shanghai, the world’s busiest freight port, is suffering from an acute shortage of containers. Availability this week of 40ft “high cube” containers is less than half than it was a year ago, according to Xchange, which tracks container movements worldwide.
The shortages at Shanghai and other big Chinese ports are fuelling the increase in the global average cost of ocean freight. Average shipping rates between east Asia and northern Europe are up nearly 40 per cent this year,
