The ports in this Southeast Asian country are congested, freight rates have skyrocketed, and container ships have been waiting for 7 days!

Port congestion intensifies, logistics time delays

According to foreign media reports , container ships scheduled to dock at the Port of Singapore are now facing severe congestion, which has increased the waiting time for container ships from two days to five to seven days .

A freight forwarder in Singapore said many ports in Singapore are facing severe congestion .

The freight forwarding company has not had any ships departing on time to Singapore since September 2020 , while business volume at the Port of Singapore has continued to increase.

Like many other ports around the world, the Port of Singapore has experienced a surge in ship calls and container throughput in recent months, according to PSA International .

The situation is the result of a confluence of factors , including an unprecedented surge in freight demand and a disruption in global supply chains.

At these nodes, the lack of available containers makes port cargo wait longer, which leads to further delays in almost all ports around the world.

Data shows that the number of ships staying in the port of Singapore for more than two days in January averaged 46 per day , an increase of 59% compared to January 2020 .

Previously, the average number of vessels staying in Singapore Port for more than two days per day only peaked in November 2020 at 49, compared with 17 in the same month in 2019.

Port congestion not only exacerbates logistics delays, but also causes freight rates to rise rapidly.

Port congestion leads to higher spot freight rates

It is understood that the congestion at the port has had a knock-on effect on Singapore spot container freight rates .

Sources said freight from Singapore to the east coast of North America with a surcharge for priority loading is about $10,000 to $15,000 per 40-foot equivalent unit (FEU), higher than other ports in Southeast Asia .

There are also reports that there is widespread congestion at ports in Southeast Asian countries. Due to logistical problems, goods from other ports have been transferred to Singapore, which has led to a continued increase in Singapore's port throughput.

Platts assessed the newly launched Southeast Asia to North America east coast rate at $5,500/FEU on March 1 , while Southeast Asia to North America west coast rates were $4,500/FEU.

Global container freight costs have attracted worldwide attention, especially in 2020, when rates rose to multi-year highs due to logistics issues .

On February 26, the Platts Container Index , a weighted average of spot prices on major global shipping routes, was $4,226.32/FEU, more than four times the same period in 2020. All these data show that the current logistics problems of global shipping are still not optimistic.

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