There is no end to the escalation of maritime transport prices. In three weeks, since the intensification of Houthi attacks on ships transiting the Red Sea bound for the Suez Canal, the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI), which measures the tariffs of products imported from China, has has increased by more than 160% compared to December 15.
The Danish giant Maersk announced yesterday that it will once again “pause” the routes that transit through this channel, and in this way will add to the decision to interrupt the traffic of the German Hapag-Llyod, after this shipping company suffered an attack over the weekend by the rebels, who want to punish the ships that trade with Israel. In turn, the French company CMA-CGM announced that on January 15 it will be forced to raise rates by 100% (that is, double them) for containers that serve the routes from Asia to the Mediterranean.
Despite the arrival of international military ships, the situation in the Bab al-Mandab strait, the main access to the Red Sea, remains very tense. According to sources consulted, there are technical difficulties that prevent the patrols from improving security in the area. It is a narrow pass (not much wider than Gibraltar). The boats have to slow down (to allow better cooling of the engines) and go in line, with little maneuverability. They become easy targets for drones, which are more agile than a pirate ship.
Are the supplies for Europe in danger? In reality, the bulk of the Christmas demand is already distributed. The effects could be felt in the coming months, although trade sources stress that a ship sailing from China to northern Europe passing directly through the Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) can accumulate a delay of as little as four days compared to the Suez Canal route. It is more complicated for ships that leave the Indian area, since in this case it can take 13 more days, because they go down through Africa.
However, the rate hike needs to be put into context. We are at levels similar to October 2022. During the covid bottlenecks, SCFI index prices broke the $5,000 barrier, i.e. double the current levels.
The price escalation is also based on other factors, such as the increase in the cost of fuel and insurance premiums. And it also occurs because, from this year, the amount of emissions from maritime transport that will serve as the basis for paying emissions rights, according to what is established by the European ETS regulations (40% of emissions declared for 2024 will have to be covered by emission rights in September 2025): the shipping companies are getting ahead and incorporating this extra cost.
A pricing policy that is not always transparent. “Over the years, the purchase and absorption of shipping companies, as well as the need for incessant investments in more ships, has developed an enormous limitation of competition. Currently, maritime logistics is in the hands of very few operators, and oligopolies have been created that control the market and the level of charters”, says Amable Esparza, naval and ocean engineer, captain of the Merchant Navy and numerary academic of the RAEU .
In fact, the structure of this industry has changed with the pandemic. At present, it already operates with ships that reach 400 meters in length and 61 meters in length, with a capacity for around 24,000 teus (20-foot containers). All this in the name of high volume and greater optimization of maritime operations.
For Esparza, “the obsession to obtain ever cheaper products obtaining a huge profit margin for large corporations has led to excessive consumerism and a scandalous programmed obsolescence that exhausts the planet’s natural resources and fills it with polluting remains . Is the idea of ??producing any component or commodity more than 10,000 kilometers away from the place of consumption, in places where the carbon footprint is not a priority, really considered sustainable?”, he asks.
