Page 677 - Economia Azul - versão: inglês

values in the last 20 years up to 2019 more than a week to dock. The chain ef- Figure 2 - Evolution of the Shanghai freight rate
shows a behavior with some fluctuation, fect was basically on charter prices and,
mainly in the periods between 2004 and consequently, on the value of freight paid
2008, which accompanied the develop- to transport a container from Asia to Brazil.
ment boom in China and a sharp drop in The evolution of freight values can be seen
subsequent periods, keeping values within in Figure 2, which shows the Shanghai
levels practiced by the international mari- Containerized Freight Index (SCFI).
time transport market. The SCFI was officially launched on
It so happens that, with the arrival of October 16, 2009. This index reflects
Covid-19, the dynamics of the market has ocean freight and associated maritime
changed significantly. First there were the surcharges for individual shipping lanes
closings of international borders, starting in the spot market.
with China in early 2020. This had an im- Shipping routes are the main export
pact on international trade, as this country container trade routes from Shanghai to
is the world’s largest manufacturer of high the following regions: Europe, Mediterra-
value-added products that it distributes to nean Sea, US West Coast, US East Coast,
the rest of the world. Naturally, the closing Persian Gulf, Australia/New Zealand, West Source (https://en.sse.net.cn/indices/scfinew.jsp)
of the Chinese borders caused the cargo to Africa, South Africa, South America, West Figure 3 – Evolution of freight values for 40-foot containers –
be held up in its ports. The ships then be- Japan, East Japan, Southeast Asia and World Container Index
gan to wait to dock, causing an imbalance South Korea. The units used by the indi-
in the supply and demand for the transport cator refer to USD/TEU (USD/FEU is for US $12.000
and distribution service of products within West Coast and East Coast services).
the global supply chain. With the spread In terms of dollar amounts, Figure 3 $10.000
of the virus across the globe, other borders presents the World Container Index de-
also closed, as was the case with many veloped by Drewry, showing the evolu-
countries in Europe and the United States tion of ocean freight rates and associated $8.000
(LAZARIN; VIEIRA, 2021). maritime surcharges of individual shipping
The cascade effect made the ships lanes in the spot market.
$ $6.000
stop at the ends, next to the ports wait- In absolute terms, at the beginning of
ing for the opportunity to load or unload. 2020, a container on the Shanghai-San-
The consequence of this was the rup- tos route cost around US$ 2,000. In early $4.000
ture in the global supply chain, in which 2021, the cost of shipping has increased to
products began to be stocked at the end $9,000. In June 2021, the value reached
points, generating a reduction in the levels of US$ 10,000 (Figure 3), and some $2.000
number of ships available in the system shippers reported values in the order of
to carry out the transport, with a lack of US$ 15,000 in December 2021.
$0
empty containers to be repositioned at The dynamics of freight practiced for
the origins, mainly in Asia. maritime transport then began to have Dec.12, 2019 Feb. 06, 2020 Apr. 02, 2020 May 28, 2020 Jul. 23, 2020 Sep. 17, 2020 Nov. 12, 2020 Jan. 07, 2020 Mar. 04, 2021 Apr. 29, 2021 Jun. 24, 2021 Aug. 19, 2021 Oct. 14, 2021 Dec. 09, 2021
In the United States, container ships, es- a new behavior after the emergence of Period
pecially on the west coast, have been waiting Covid-19. Naturally, the higher values Source: Drewry (2021)

Maritime Transport and Port Infrastructure
674 BLUE ECONOMY Maritime Transport and Port Infrastructure 675675