News Snapshot:
A container ship sailing from Shanghai to Kaohsiung, Taiwan, travels just 600 nautical miles. A container ship sailing from Shanghai to Los Angeles travels 9.5 times farther — 5,700 nautical miles — and incurs dramatically higher fuel costs. And yet, according to Xeneta, current long-term contract rates for these two completely different trades are now roughly the same, at around $2,000 per forty-foot equivalent unit. Contract rates on the short-haul run between China and Taiwan have surged since the beginning of this year, according to Xeneta. The culprit: geopolitical risk. “It’s quite fascinating: $2,000 from China to Taiwan, the same...
