The cumulative increase until July of the Valencian index for Mediterranean freights is 6.92%
Valencia, August the 10th 2018. – The VCFI registered a decrease of 1.02% during the month of July and stood at 1,069.26 points; a figure that indicates that freights with cargo from the port of Valencia for 13 economic areas of the world have recorded an accumulated increase from January to July of this year of 6.93%.
The VCFI (Valencia Container Freight Index) was created as an index number that took 1,000 points as the basis of contribution, in January 2018. Since then, VCFI has registered different fluctuations, upwards or downwards, depending on the different factors that affect the costs and the price in maritime transport.
The evolution of the oil price is one of the factors that have a direct impact on the VCFI index; so that it has already been noted that until June, the increase in Brent oil increased the Valencian index to 1,080.22 points. Although, the stabilization of barrel of the North Sea oil (Brent) during the month of July generated a slight decrease of 1.02% in the freights referenced in the VCFI, a cut that leaves the VCFI of July at 1,069.26 points.
The Valencia Containerized Freight Index (VCFI) has been developed by the Port Authority of Valencia and the Valenciaport Foundation and is published on the second Friday of each month, at 12 noon (Spanish time, or European Central, CET).
The index covers the gap in the western Mediterranean; an area that concentrates 3.8% of world trade but lacks its own indicator for export freight. It is, therefore, a reference indicator in the Mediterranean, in the same way that the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index is for the Asian area.
The VCFI it is presented as a statistical magnitude based on the contribution of confidential data from market operating companies. Specifically, the panel of informants is composed of 8 shipping companies and 4 freight forwarders with a large presence in the international market. It includes -in a first stage- the aggregate evolution of freight rates with respect to an initial reference moment, established in January 2018, a period in which the index takes 1,000.
For its elaboration, the freight or export freight references are taken from Valenciaport to the following economic areas and ports:
| Geographic area VCFI | Reference ports |
| WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN | Casablanca (MA), El Djazair (DZ), Tunisia (TN) |
| ATLANTIC EUROPE | Felixstowe (GB), Hamburg (DE), Antwerp (BE) |
| EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN | Alexandria (EG) Ashdod (IL) Piraeus (GR) Istanbul (TR) |
| FAR EAST | Shanghai (CN), Hong Kong (HK), Port Kelang (MY), Singapore (SG), Busan (KR), Tokyo (JP), Kaohsiung (TW), Bangkok (TH), Ho Chi Minh City (VN) |
| MIDDLE EAST | Jeddah (SA), Jebel Ali (AE) |
| USA – ATLANTIC CANADA | New York (US), Montreal (CA), Houston (US), Miami (US) |
| CENTRAL AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN | Veracruz (MX), Cartagena (CO) Altamira (MX), Caucedo (OJ) |
| ATLANTIC LATIN AMERICA | Santos (BR), Buenos Aires (AR) |
| WEST AFRICA | Luanda (AO), Bata (GQ), Dakar (SN) |
| AFRICA EAST COAST | Durban (ZA), Port Elisabeth (ZA) |
| PACIFIC LATIN AMERICA | Callao (PE), San Antonio (CL) |
| INDIAN SUBCONTINENT | Nhava Sheva (IN), Kandla (IN) |
| BALTIC COUNTRIES | Saint Petersburg (RU), Helsinki (FI) |
VCFI JULY 2018. EVOLUTION, DATA AND COMMENT
| JANUARY | FEBRUARY | MARCH | APRIL | MAY | JUNE | JULY | |
| INDEX | 1.000,00 | 988,84 | 984,67 | 1.018,53 | 1.016,41 | 1.080,22 | 1.069,26 |
| Monthly
Variation |
-1,12% | -0,42% | 3,44% | -0,21% | 6,28% | -1,02% | |
| Cumulative
Variation |
-1,12% | -1,53% | 1,85% | 1,64% | 8,02% | 6,93% |
COMMENT
The Valencia Containerized Freight Index (VCFI) shows the evolution of maritime cargo spot all in the export market of containers loaded by sea from Valenciaport with the 13 main geographic areas with which it connects.
The graph shows the monthly evolution of the index from January to July 2018. Given that the objective of the VCFI is to show the trend of the export freight market from Valencia, an index number that takes base on 1000 has been constructed in January 2018, first Month of the period. The strong growth of freight rates in the course of May to June, reaching a rate of 6.28%, has given way to a moderate decrease in the month of July of 1.02%, going from the 1,080.22 points of June to the 1,069.26 of July. Despite this monthly decrease, if the evolution of the freight market is analyzed for the period January to July 2018, growth continues to be bullish, with an accumulated rate of 6.93%. After the rise experienced by the freights in the month of June, caused mainly by the rebound of the price of a barrel of Brent, freight rates already suffered a corresponding surcharge. Therefore, with the stabilization of the price of Brent in the month of July, these have suffered a slight decrease.
When analyzing the evolution of maritime freight in the 13 most important geographical areas of export from Valenciaport between January and July, there is an upward trend in 8 of them: while the most pronounced increases occur in 5 areas, coinciding with 4 routes interoceanic, in the other 3 the uptrend is very moderate. On the other hand, the 5 remaining areas that make up the VCFI suffer a slight fall, being more notable in export freights with European markets.