SIMIC

The drop is due to sluggish global demand driven by the slow recovery from the Covid crisis, surging US inflation, the Russia-Ukraine war, and Covid flare-ups in some parts of China.

Sluggish global demand might have dragged down China's foreign trade in the first quarter.

However, industry insiders declared the situation will improve in May and June as the Chinese government aims to secure supply chains, and export orders are expected to surge.

Meanwhile, transpacific container spot rates to the North American west coast fell 52 per cent, and those to the east coast fell 50 per cent.

The weekly Drewry assessment for Shanghai to Los Angeles came in at US$8,824 per standard container, down 20 per cent from early March.

"At the moment Asia-west coast demand is fairly low, almost unseasonably so," said S&P Global Commodity Insights managing editor George Griffiths.