It is expected that shipping company freight rates will continue to decline in the next 12 months

Focusing on the futures market in Shanghai, analysts from Asia based container consulting firm Linerlytica predict that container freight rates from Asia to Europe will decrease by over 70% by June next year.

The Container Freight Index Futures (CoFIF) has been available for a year and is traded on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange, a subsidiary of the Shanghai Futures Exchange.

Linerlytica stated in a latest market report, "Although this decline is not as severe as the sharp drop in freight rates at the end of 2022, the current freight futures prices are expected to continue to decline in the next 12 months, 

and are not expected to rebound by the end of this year, nor will they repeat the price increase after this year's Spring Festival in 2025

So far, carriers have failed to curb the decline in freight rates, with the Shanghai Container Freight Index (SCFI) dropping 12% from its peak in July. Last week's 7.3% drop masked the relatively mild 1% to 3% week over week 

decline in the previous four weeks.

HSBC stated in a freight market report this week that "as new ships continue to operate and capacity increases, European/Mediterranean freight rates may continue to weaken