Home›Global Markets›Trade & Tariffs›China’s car export surge strains car-carrier shipping…

China’s car export surge strains car-carrier shipping capacity

Car-carrier charter rates are up 65% this year, and Clarksons data show average annual charter rates for large carriers rose to $70,000 a day in June from $42,500 at end-2023.

Reported · Written up by our desk · Trade & Tariffs

Chinese auto exports are growing faster than global car-carrier shipping capacity, pushing charter rates higher as automakers increasingly use specialized carriers to move vehicles abroad, according to the Wall Street Journal as summarized by Forexlive.

The reported shift is large in scale. China exported just under 600,000 cars and vans in 2019, while Mobility Global forecasts it could ship up to 10 million vehicles this year, with growth driven by overproduction and competition among more than 100 domestic brands alongside weaker demand at home.

Shipping capacity has not kept pace despite expansion in the fleet. Forexlive cites Clarksons data saying global car-carrier fleets expanded about 40%, yet average annual charter rates for large car carriers reached $70,000 a day in June, up from $42,500 at the end of last year, and charter rates have nearly doubled since late last year.

Automakers are facing a tighter logistics bottleneck that could affect margins for exporters, Forexlive notes, while the export volume is also framed as a pressure valve for oversupply pressures. Forexlive adds that Chinese car sales were down over 20% in the first half of the year as capacity is redirected to overseas markets.

More like this

Sources