SIMIC

The main drivers of the elevated rates continue to be high consumer demand and congestion at US ports, said Judah Levine, head of research at online freight shipping marketplace and platform provider Freightos.

Rates have ticked higher over the past couple of weeks, but average rates remain about US$5,000/container below the peak in August and September.

Also, the spread between the highest and lowest rates has narrowed. In October, the spread was about $25,000, now it is about $11,000, according to Freightos.

Despite efforts to ease the logjam of vessels at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the No 1 container port in the US, containerised imports have fallen below levels in the same months in 2018 for the second month in a row.

While the port complex will hit records for full-year throughput in 2021, 13 per cent above the 2018 peak, import volumes in Los Angeles were front-loaded in the first half of the year when congestion, while significant, was less severe than it is now.

There may be some relief from a manufacturing lull in China as manufacturing is expected to slow significantly for the Lunar New Year holiday.

While the number of ships in port at the twin ports has shrunk, it is largely because of a new queuing system for container ships put in place by the Marine Exchange of Southern California (MESC) that moves the ships to a safer location, known as the Safety and Air Quality Area (SAQA), to help reduce emissions near the coastline.

MESC defines total vessels in port as the sum of vessels at anchor, in a drift area and at berth.