China United Shipping Co., LTD. (hereinafter referred to as "China United Shipping"), a Guangzhou-based state-owned holding company, is sailing overtime ships "retrograde" as the uncertainty of the Red Sea situation continues to impact the global shipping industry.

    On January 19, there was market news that Chinese shipping company Zhongunited Shipping's Red Sea Express (REX) service will be put into a 2,786 TEU vessel named "CUL Manila", calling at Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Nansha, Jeddah and other ports, with a service duration of about 30 to 35 days.

    On the same day, the economic observer network reporter confirmed from the staff of the Shanghai headquarters of China United Shipping and the Guangdong business people that "the Red Sea route has been opened before the New Year's Day" information, but the route is currently an "overtime ship", the port of call and the related shipping costs are uncertain.

    According to Tianyan data, Guangzhou Port Logistics Co., Ltd. owns 20 percent of China United Shipping; Guangzhou Port Logistics Co., Ltd. is a 100% holding company of Guangzhou Port (601228.SH), a state-owned enterprise in Guangzhou.

    On January 20, the Shanghai Shipping Exchange released the composite index of China's export container freight rates as of January 19, up 12.9% compared with the previous period (January 12, the same below). Among them, the European route, the Mediterranean route, the US-West route, the US-East route distribution rose 23%, 14.4%, 8%, 5.7%.

    Shanghai Shipping Exchange "China export container transportation market Weekly report" shows that on January 19, the European route, Shanghai port exports to Europe, the Mediterranean basic port market freight (sea and sea surcharges) was 3030 US dollars /TEU and 4067 US dollars /TEU, down 2.4% from the previous period, up 0.7%; North American route On January 19, the port of Shanghai exports to the United States and the United States East basic port market freight (sea and sea surcharges) were 4,320 US dollars /FEU and 6,262 US dollars /FEU, respectively, up 8.7% and 7.7% from the previous period.

    Taking the above European routes and North American routes as an example, the market freight rates rose sharply compared with the beginning of December last year. For the week of December 1, 2023, the freight rate (sea and sea surcharge) from Shanghai to the Mediterranean Basic Port market is US $1260 /TEU; The freight rate (sea freight and sea surcharge) for exports from Shanghai port to the basic port market of West and East America is US $1,646 /FEU and US $2,446 /FEU respectively.

    On January 19, Clarkson Research, a third-party consulting firm, released an assessment of the impact of the situation in the Red Sea on the shipping market, pointing out that the recent decline in ship traffic in the Red Sea has further declined, with the volume of ship traffic in the Red Sea region (in gross tons) falling by 10% from January 12 to 16, and the number of ships entering the Gulf of Aden region during the same period falling by 65% from the 2023 average. Among them, the decline in container ships is the most obvious, as of January 16 statistics have fallen by about 90%.

    According to Clarkson's research, circumnavigation has a great impact on container ships and car carriers. In terms of the tanker market, the change of trade routes will be more complex than the change of routes brought about by the diversion, and the transformation of cooperation between trading countries/regions may reshape the pattern of global oil trade.

    Earlier, on January 18, the international logistics company DHL also released the 2024 Global Maritime Market Outlook, saying that due to the continued attacks by the Houthi armed forces on commercial vessels through the Red Sea, all of its maritime carriers have suspended transport services through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, and most of the ships rerouted to the Cape of Good Hope. This has added 10 to 15 days to travel times between Asia and Europe and has had an impact on capacity and rates.

    Among them, the main routes affected are to and from Europe and the Middle East, as well as the use of Mediterranean ports as transit routes into Africa. At the same time, traffic from Asia to the east coast of the Americas is also affected due to congestion caused by the diversion of the Panama Canal, which is expected to continue until at least the first quarter of 2024.