SCFI USWC and NEUR Decline Gathering Pace

The decline in container freight rates has been gathering pace over the past week. SCFI suggested spot rates to USWC and NEUR have fallen 11% and 7% respectively over the past week, comparing to decline of 6% and 4% respectively the week before. Utilization in the FE-USWC trade actually picked up a bit the last few days after several very light departures recorded on 19 Aug and 20 Aug involving services independently operated by Maersk, MSC and CMACGM. But those light departures have obviously