Recently, data released by the Ningbo Shipping Exchange showed that from April 27 to May 3, the Ningbo Export Containers Shipping Price Index (NCFI) of the Sea Silk Road Index rose sharply to 1599.7 points, up by 11%.

Especially in the North American market, due to the surge in shipment volumes, the routing class was unusually tense. In addition, some shipping companies also faced a shortage of bags and further pushed shipping fees. The data showed that the US East Route Shipping Price Index surged to 1893.2 points, up 31% compared to the previous reporting period; while the US West Route Shipping Price Index also surged to 2484.7 points, up 28.7%.

European and African routes were also affected by market class tensions, and shipping companies deliberately reduced the proportion of air travel to control operating costs and further aggravated the supply and demand contradictions of the routes. According to statistics, the European routes price index rose to 1621.1 points, up by 5.2%; the East routes price index rose to 1667.3 points, up by 8.2%; and the West routes price index also grew, up to 1972.6 points, up by 2.1%.

In addition, West Africa continues to be in a highly tense market position due to the continued control of a larger proportion of flights by Ferries. This week, the flight price index reached 1259.0 points, up 15.2 percent from last week.

Analysts in the shipping industry believe that the significant increase in shipping prices is mainly due to the recovery of global trade activity, especially in the strong recovery of demand in the North American and European markets.As the global economy has gradually recovered from the effects of the epidemic, international trade demand has grown, but while supply chain interruptions and logistics restrictions remain, this has a profound impact on the global shipping market.

Shipping companies have had to adjust shipping prices to maintain continuity and quality of service in response to the double pressure of cluster tensions and rising operating costs. This price adjustment puts pressure on many industries in international trade, especially those that rely on regular shipping manufacturing and retail industries. For consumers, the increase in shipping costs may be transferred to retail prices, pushing up market prices for some consumer goods.