The cost to ship a container from India to Europe or the US has fallen 30-40 per cent in the last two months as bunker oil prices bunker down.
According to leading shipping lines plying the two routes, freight charges for a 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) fell from US$1,000 to US$700 between India and Europe, and from US$1,900 to US$1,600 between India and the US, reported the Business Standard.
The price of crude oil has dropped almost 60 per cent in the last three months to just US$63 a barrel on Friday.
The amount of freight on ships has also dropped, with trade from India shrinking by about 7 per cent in the face of the slowing global economy.
In response to that contracting trade, several shipping lines operating in Asia have committed to or discussed capacity decreases.
Neptune Orient Lines announced last week it would cut several services, and Orient Overseas International Ltd, Hong Kong’s largest container line, considered a 16 percent capacity drop.
