Clean

Produced by | Qingliu Studio

Author | edited by Wang Xiaoyue | Zhao Yan

E-mail

stoolpigeon@service.netease.com

In the autumn afternoon, heavy trucks slowly entered and exited Guangzhou Huangpu Port, and the crane tower slowly moved the container to the cabin. The citizens on the shore were fishing with long poles, and they sat for an afternoon.

people who make a living around this pier, opposite the port, have no such leisure.

The customer service of the freight forwarding company is banging loudly on the keyboard in the cubicle, racing against time to book the shipping space for customers. Affected by the epidemic situation, many countries whose supply chains have not been restored have moved their orders to China. After a short depression, domestic terminals suddenly welcomed a large number of export orders, and sea containers became tight, so "grabbing containers" became the norm for freight forwarders. In order to prevent the shipping company from dumping the shipping space, the freight forwarder should immediately rush to the dock to lift the container and occupy the shipping space after receiving the bill of lading.

under the contradiction between supply and demand, prices are soaring. China's export container price index released by Shanghai Airlines Exchange soared from below 85 points in May to 117.28 points on November 13th, setting a new high in recent years.

According to Qingliu Studio, the price of a 4-foot container from Guangzhou to new york, USA, has risen to $5,, more than three times that before the epidemic. The price increase of special cabinets is even crazier. Some freight forwarders were raised by shipping companies by 4, dollars in just one week, and some special cabinets in northern ports were raised to 1, dollars, while the price of special cabinets before the epidemic was only about 1, dollars.

containers are crazy, and it is hard to stop the price increase with the supervision. The industry believes that the shortage of containers will continue at least until the first half of next year, and export enterprises and freight forwarders will continue to bear the cost pressure for some time, while upstream shipping companies and container manufacturers will still have a bonus to eat.

"We have been in this business for 2 years, and (the price) has never been so high."

Mr. Chen, the head of the freight forwarding company, is sitting on the sofa, his mobile phone keeps ringing, and some customers are urging him to book the space. From time to time, the staff in the lobby shouted to him, "There are no cabinets in Nansha" and "What is the size of special cabinets" ... Mr. Chen, whose hair is slightly gray, is overwhelmed.

Mr. Chen comes from Hefei, Anhui Province. He came to Guangdong to work in the 199s. After he was laid off from a state-owned textile factory, he started his business as a freight forwarder, helping export enterprises to book shipping space, run customs and provide one-stop service.

after the epidemic this year, Mr. Chen predicted that his business would be affected, and the actual situation was far beyond his imagination. After a short-term shortage during the epidemic, the export volume of goods such as clothing and cloth surged in the third quarter, and the national shipping price soared, making it hard to find a box.

"If you say next week's price now, there isn't. The price will not be known until next week. " Lao Chen said that due to frequent price increases, the current quotation period has become shorter.

Mr. Chen's main job now is to "grab the container". He moves around among shipping companies, trying to make good relations, hoping to grab the shipping space.

however, at the craziest time of grabbing cabinets, booking shipping space can't guarantee the final order.

"The shipping companies are crazy now and keep raising prices. For example, the price put today is lower. If you book it, he will immediately void your SO, just to raise the price. " Lao Chen said.

SO is the abbreviation of Shipping order, which is usually called the bill of lading in the north. When the SO bill is issued, it means that the shipping company has allocated the shipping space, and customers can lift and pack boxes according to the instructions of SO.

Lao Chen said that the price increase of ordinary cabinets is acceptable. At present, the price of high boxes from Guangzhou to the United States is around $5,, more than three times that before the epidemic.

the price of special cabinets has gone crazy.

the special cabinet ordered by Mr. Chen last week was priced at more than $1,, but it was raised to $5, by the shipping company near the departure this week. Special cabinets refer to special containers, which can have the functions of refrigerating, receiving ultra-high goods, receiving liquids, vehicles and so on. The box with this function is more scarce, and the shipping company has more confidence in raising prices.

after receiving the price increase notice, Mr. Chen's customers immediately went back to the company for a meeting to discuss, and finally decided that "we can't leave."

"as SOon as we get the so now, we'll make the order immediately and bring out the cabinet. I won't care if he raises the price again." After being forced to raise the price by the shipping company, Lao Chen found a countermeasure. "No way, it's all urgent."

The shipping company is also afraid of being broken. After the epidemic, the shipping company requires the freight forwarder to pay a deposit when booking the shipping space. The deposit for a container is 3 to 4 dollars. If the freight forwarder breaks the contract temporarily, the shipping company will eat the deposit, which is a new financial pressure for Mr. Chen.

from the outside world, freight forwarders naturally earn more because of soaring shipping prices. However, Mr. Chen said that "he can't make much money". As an agent, Mr. Chen draws a commission of $1 per container on the basis of the shipping company's quotation, and relies on the transaction volume to obtain income.

he has a lot of goods to sell, but he can't get the cabinet, and now he can't make a single order.

"That's what we're afraid of. After a long time, business will be lost." Chen said helplessly.

the price increase is not good for freight forwarders, but the upstream container sales companies and shipping companies have made a fortune.

Xiao Hu, who is engaged in container rental and sales business, has frequently updated his circle of friends recently, and the copy of "the price of high boxes is raised again" will be sent almost once a week.

At present, the selling price of a second-hand 4-foot high box is 15, yuan, while the price of similar high boxes at the beginning of the year is only 1, yuan. Xiao Hu told Qingliu Studio that the price will be raised at any time, and the customer can only lock the price with a 3% deposit.

"If I tell you this price now, it may rise to 16, tomorrow." Xiao Hu said.

The domestic first-hand containers mainly come from CIMC (39.SZ), which is the global container leader, ranking first in terms of production and sales in 219.

The representative of securities affairs of CIMC revealed in the exchange with investors that the price of a 2-foot container was less than $2, at the beginning of the year, and has now risen to $2,2, and the price may continue to increase. In the first three quarters, the cumulative sales volume of dry containers decreased by 17.9% year-on-year, but as the gross profit margin increased to 14%, the container business turned losses in the first half of the year.

CIMC's semi-annual report shows that the cumulative sales volume of ordinary dry containers decreased by nearly 4% year-on-year, and the operating income of container business decreased by 25.45%, but the net profit increased by 535.78% year-on-year, totaling 239 million yuan, compared with less than 4 million yuan in the same period last year.

downstream of the container manufacturer is the shipping company. After purchasing the container, the shipping company obtains revenue by renting the container and shipping space. According to Drewry's 22 report, the container terminal of COSCO Haikong (61919.SH) ranked first in the world in total throughput in 219. The company * * * operates 278 international routes (including international feeder lines), 56 coastal routes in China and 88 feeder lines in the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River.

in this wave of container price increase, cosco haikong also got a piece of the action. According to its third quarterly report, the company's revenue per container of international routes rose from 888 US dollars/TEU in the same period last year to 952 US dollars/TEU this year. In the first three quarters, COSCO Haikong's operating income only increased by 5.46%, but its net profit increased by 82.4%.

driven by the performance, the share prices of the above two companies have also been rising steadily. Since the end of May, the share price of CIMC has risen by more than 14% at the highest, while that of COSCO Haikong has gone up and down successively, with the share price rising by more than 19% at the highest.

"Originally, the cabinet was enough, but it was exported abroad and didn't come back." For the reason of the price increase, Lao Chen thinks that the most important thing is the detention of empty containers.

in the later period of the epidemic, with the recovery of global trade, the demand for Christmas goods surged in the second half of the year. Foreign supply chains failed to keep up, and the demand shifted to China. According to the data of China General Administration of Customs, in August and September, China's export business changed the previous downward trend, and the total export volume increased by .8% and 1.8% year-on-year. Among them, the total export value of processed animal and vegetable oils, fats and animal and vegetable waxes increased by nearly 6% year-on-year, followed by the total export value of spinning, fabrics, finished products and related products increased by nearly 4% year-on-year.

A shipping company employee told Qingliu Studio that after the goods were exported, the transshipment and distribution in American ports were not timely, which caused a large number of containers to be blocked, and the warehouses were full, so the empty containers could not be returned to China. Therefore, the supply of domestic boxes has become more scarce recently.

In addition, the representative of securities affairs of CIMC Group said in an exchange that the container inventory of the purchaser dropped sharply from the data of shipping companies or container leasing companies in 218 and 219. "With the current fast container lifting speed, containers will not be enough."

according to Lao Chen, the shipping space to the United States, Australia and Canada is the most tense, followed by South America and Africa. He also revealed that Southeast Asia was not nervous at first, but it has also become tense recently.

"Maybe the shipping company did it on purpose. Let's go to the dock and see that there are quite a lot of imported cabinets." For the high container price, Lao Chen and the above-mentioned shipping company personnel all put forward such speculation.

when the epidemic broke out this year, shipping companies reduced the number of ships and shipping spaces. In the second half of the year, the shipping company's transportation capacity did not increase, which may be because the transportation capacity could not keep up, or because the shipping company tasted the sweetness of hunger marketing and was unwilling to increase the shipping space by a large proportion.

some shipping companies are even reducing their capacity. According to media reports, THE Alliance plans to cancel a quarter of Asian-Nordic routes in the first week of December. At the same time, Hapag-Beurotte, a member of the alliance, increased its net income in the first nine months of 22, and raised its freight rate to announce the imposition of surcharge.

on September 16th, the United States maritime regulatory agency, the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), issued a warning to container shipping companies, saying that if there was evidence of collusion in trans-Pacific trade, FMC would bring a lawsuit to the court. The US Federal Maritime Commission said it was investigating possible violations of the competition law.

In China, according to media reports, in September, the Ministry of Transport recently interviewed all container shipping companies operating Sino-US routes.

According to sources close to the interview, the Ministry of Transport will exercise strong supervision over the routes between China and the United States, requiring the standardization of freight rate filing. The capacity, routes and schedules should be filed, and the freight rates and all additional fees designated by shipping companies should be standardized and reasonable, which needs to be filed for detailed explanation.

however, judging from the freight rate index and the feedback from the industry, the shipping price is still rising.

Wang Xiaoyue is a senior author of Qingliu Studio, based in Guangzhou.