• The Valencia Containerised Freight Index  is below 2,000 points, specifically at 1,885.5, similar to March 2021

• The indicator which measures the trend and evolution of container transport costs by sea from the Port of Valencia has now been falling for nine consecutive months

• The international situation is marked by the slowdown in international trade activity and, consequently, in port traffic

• The Far East area fell by 3.74% in May and the Western Mediterranean fell by 1.64%

• The Indian subcontinent is the only area that grew in May, by 5.32%

The Valencia Containerised Freight Index , the indicator that measures the trend and evolution of container transport costs by sea from the Port of Valencia, recorded a fall of 14.22% in May compared to the previous month, standing at 1,885.54 points and accumulating a growth of 88.55% since the start of the historical series in January 2018.

The Index reflects a decrease in the level of freight rates in almost all areas, among which the performance of the USA and Canada (-17.92%), Atlantic Europe (-15.29%) and Atlantic Latin America (-9.77%) should be highlighted. The performance of the Indian Subcontinent area is also significant, the only one to experience an increase, namely 6.32%.

About the causes of the evolution of export freight rates, given their influence on the binomial formed by the supply and demand of maritime transport, it is worth highlighting the evolution of international trade, which has not yet found the stability required by the market. In this sense, the fall in the levels of export freight rates is framed in a context of generalised slowdown, where the world economy continues to be marked by the complex and uncertain situation of the war in Ukraine, with growing levels of inflation, added to which are imbalances in trade flows between the different countries, among other factors.

VCFI Western Mediterranean

As for the Western Mediterranean sub-index, a downward oscillation of -1.64% is again observed, standing at 1,787.49 points, and accumulating a growth of 78.75% since the beginning of the series in 2018.

The volume of exports from Valenciaport to Tunisia, one of the trading partners in this area, has recently increased, while export traffic with Morocco has decreased. As has become a constant fact, export traffic to Algeria continues to be at minimum levels, due to the geopolitical problems that are still present.

VCFI Far East

As far as the Far East area is concerned, a drop was again observed, although less accentuated when compared to April’s performance, when the decrease was -3.74%, reaching 1,749.41 points. This figure represents an accumulated growth of 74.94% with respect to the beginning of the series in January 2018. For its part, Valenciaport’s export levels to China, its main trading partner, have fluctuated upwards in recent weeks.