Sea freight prices will increase again in June

Rates for transporting commodities on ships that supply industries around the world are through the roof. From January to May, the price of sea freight rose by more than 30% (from 6 thousand to 9 thousand dollars) and the market expectation is that a new increase will occur by the end of June.

According to information from the company Port Trade, in the United States the tendency is for the price to exceed the barrier of 14 thousand dollars, while in other countries, such as Brazil, the expectation is that the price will reach 10 thousand dollars next month.

Among the reasons that explain this increase are the grounding of the Merchant Ship Ever Given, during its transit through the Suez Canal, which occurred in March, in Egypt, and the outbreak of Covid-19 among employees at the Port of Shenzhen, in China, which The circulation of ships through the area drastically decreased.

“All of this is happening because of the lack of space on ships and, consequently, of transported equipment. The shipments that are taking place from China to Europe and the United States are taking a long time to get the equipment back, which is causing them to need to relocate the products to other regions to make up for this shortage”, said Cleber Baldotto, operational manager at Port Trade.

The expert explains that, with the end of the Chinese New Year, which moves a large volume of goods, the normal thing would be for shipping prices to fall across the world. However, due to incidents that occurred, first, in the Suez Canal, and now in the Port of Shenzhen, the price continued to rise. “We expected a reduction in freight, because the period between January and May is not high, but, considering all these bad events in sequence, the price only increased”, he highlighted.   

Also according to Baldotto, the increase in prices, especially in Brazil, harms the import of equipment, especially the cheapest ones. “A company that sells fashion products at popular prices and brings collections for specific holidays, such as Father's Day, ends up holding back shipments waiting for a reduction in shipping, because it won't compensate financially”, he exemplified.