The Harper Petersen Index shows a fall in container shipping rates in the last few months, reflecting a sharp decline in manufacturing exports.
Bloomberg (hat tip to macrobusiness.com.au) now reports that “the cost of hauling goods to Europe from China (its largest export market) is falling faster than rates for deliveries to the U.S. The price for shipments to Europe is down 39 percent to $511 per twenty-foot box since Aug. 31, according to figures from Clarkson Securities Ltd., a unit of the world’s largest shipbroker. That’s more than double the 18 percent slide in the cost to the U.S. West Coast, measured in 40-foot units.”