The car carrier sector continues to smash records. According to Clarksons Research, the one-year time charter rate for a 6,500 ceu ship now stands at $105,000 per day, double the Q2 2008 previous record, with fixtures now typically being concluded for multiple years and much of the charter fleet now fixed forwards.
One of the main reasons for the surging rates has been the changing trade patterns with cars being shipped far greater distances.
The global deepsea car trade is projected to grow by 8% this year to 20.3m cars, according to Clarksons’ estimates. Significantly the car trade is on track to grow by 14% in car-miles this year, rising 2% above pre-covid levels.
“This has largely been driven by surging long-haul Chinese exports (particularly to Europe), which are on track to account for over 50% of global car-mile trade growth this year,” Clarksons noted in its most recent weekly report.
