Container prices have experienced a 10% surge in Rotterdam and Hamburg, reaching $1,310-$1,350 per 40-foot-high cube unit due to attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea by Yemeni militants. As major shipping companies alter routes, container scarcity has led to the price hike. Christian Roeloffs, CEO of Container xChange, anticipates a normalization of container prices within three to nine months, attributing the increase to the disruption caused by re-routing vessels around the Cape of Good Hope. The U.S.-led multinational operation in the Red Sea and existing overcapacity in the container market are expected to contribute to stabilizing prices. Roeloffs emphasizes that despite the prolonged transit times and increased costs, the overcapacity in container shipping is significant enough to absorb the impact of the re-routing, and prices are likely to return to pre-attack levels.

SOURCE:GOOGLE