The Valencia Containerised Freight Index (VCFI), the indicator that measures the trend and evolution of container transport costs by sea from the Port of Valencia, closed the 2022 financial year at 3,603 points.
This represents a year-on-year decrease of 11.3 per cent from 4,063 points recorded for 2022.
The VCFI expects a total gain of 260 per cent since the start of the historical series in January 2019.
In 2022, the VCFI has presented a differentiated behaviour in two stages.
Until August, the VCFI registered monthly increases until reaching its record level of 4,918 points.
However, from September onwards, a sharp fall in the price of export freight was observed until the end of the 2022 financial year with 3,603 points, a trend that continued in the first months of this year 2023.
These figures were presented on 17 May, 2023, in the Clock Building of the Port of Valencia during the presentation of the annual report of the VCFI for 2022.
The report was presented by the head of Strategic Planning and Innovation of the Port Authority of Valencia (PAV), Juan Manuel Díez, and the director of Market Intelligence of the Valenciaport Foundation, Amparo Mestre.
An analysis of freight rates in the main sub-indices of the VCFI (Western Mediterranean, Far East and US and Canada) shows an upward trend in the first half of the year 2022.
In the second half of the year the fall in freight rates was generalised for all three areas, in line with the evolution of the VCFI at a global level.
In the case of the Far East, the Index ended the year at 2,372, representing a decrease of 36.6 per cent compared to December 2021 which closed at 3,742 points.
In the Western Mediterranean, the VCFI ended 2022 at 1,897 points compared to 2,117 in 2021, a decrease of 10.4 per cent.
It remains in this range at the beginning of 2023 despite a slight decrease in the first four months.
READ: Valenciaport recoups 11 per cent
The VCFI attributed this decline in maritime transport to a slow down of world trade caused by the war in Ukraine and the inflation of energy and raw material prices.
READ: Port of Valencia sees 12.5 per cent drop in export freight rates
