China Containerized Freight Index
The CCFI: twelve export routes from ten Chinese ports, its blend of spot and contract rates, and why it moves more slowly than the spot-only SCFI does.
The China Containerized Freight Index is published weekly by the Shanghai Shipping Exchange, covering twelve export routes from ten Chinese ports including Dalian, Tianjin, Qingdao, Shanghai, Nanjing, Ningbo, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Unlike the spot-only SCFI, it blends spot and contract rates for China’s export container trade and is quoted in index points.
The blend is the reason the two indices diverge: a contract rate does not reprice weekly, so the CCFI lags a spot move and understates its amplitude. The full article will cover the route set, the weighting between ports and lanes, the contract and spot blend, the base period, and how a shipper reading both indices should interpret a widening gap between them.