Container shipping rates from the west coast of India to the Middle East hit record highs, with twenty-foot equivalent unit rates up 750% and forty-foot equivalent unit rates up 909% as of March 2, driven by the war in the Middle East.

Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, assessed PCR 33 — West Coast India to the Middle East — at $2,775/FEU on March 2, up 909.1% day over day, and TCR 33 — West Coast India to the Middle East — at $1,700/TEU, up 750% on March 2. The rates were unchanged on March 3.

In response to the war, carrier CMA CGM said March 2 that it has suspended all bookings for dangerous and hazardous goods until further notice to and from Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, Yemen, Qatar, Oman, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt (Port of Ain Sokhna), Djibouti, Sudan and Eritrea.

CMA CGM has also implemented an emergency conflict surcharge of up to $4,000/FEU for shipments to and from those countries in the region.

Maersk said March 2 that it has suspended reefer, dangerous/special cargo acceptance in and out of the UAE, Oman, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia until further notice.

Maersk said it also suspended all new bookings between the Indian subcontinent and the Upper Gulf markets of the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia (Dammam and Jubail only).

Industry participants in the India-Middle East shipping market said they were preparing for post-war challenges, which may include container shortages, increased congestion and more frequent rolled bookings.

“There [could] be a shortage of containers,” a shipper said.

As the regional conflict extends into its third day, about 10% of the global container shipping fleet remains stranded inside the Persian Gulf or held up outside the critical waterway, the Journal of Commerce, part of S&P Global, reported March 2, citing Jeremy Nixon, CEO of Ocean Network Express.

“I have more than 200 reefers stuck at sea … All are scheduled to discharge at Jebel Ali port, with transshipments to the Middle East area, all routed through the Strait of Hormuz,” a freight forwarder told Platts. “Exporters are facing mounting pressure, with more than 1,000 boxes waiting at JNPT (Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust).”

Source: Platts