SIMIC

A CONTAINER sailing from Shanghai to Kaohsiung, Taiwan goes 600 nautical miles while another goes from Shanghai to Los Angeles nearly 10 times as far - yet, according to rate-setting Xeneta, they will cost the same to get where they are going - about US$2,000 per FEU.
Such is the geopolitical risk crossing the Taiwan Strait today. Contract rates on the short-haul run between China and Taiwan have surged since the beginning of this year, according to Xeneta, reported New York's FreightWaves.
Said Xeneta chief data officer Erik Devetak: "It's quite fascinating: $2,000 from China to Taiwan, the same as going across the biggest ocean in the world."
And while the China-Taiwan situation is a very specific case, geopolitical tensions are escalating globally.
"This situation is very idiosyncratic, but we're going to see a lot of this," Mr Devetak said. "Geopolitics is going to make a difference in the future."
Highlighting the degree of recent moves in long-term rates, Xeneta compared two intra-Asia lanes: China-Taiwan and China-Japan.
Said Xeneta market analyst Emily Stausbell: "At the start of this year, the rates were basically equal. You were paying the same to Japan as you were to Taiwan. Now the two have moved in clearly quite different directions.
"The spread between them is increasing. It has increased to almost $750 per FEU which is about half the rate you'd be paying just to get into Japan," she said.