Cost of shipping between China and U.S. plunges

Looming off-season and power crunch have forced prices down after record highs

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Yangshan Deep Water Port in Shanghai. Shipping costs from China to the U.S. skyrocketed after the start of the pandemic and have now moderated but remain high. © Reuters

JIA TIANQIONG and ZHANG YUKUN, Caixin

The cost of shipping between China and the U.S. plunged this week after hitting record highs in early September as the off-season approaches, a power crunch slows Chinese manufacturing and speculators rush to sell their hoarded shipping spots.

An executive with a Shanghai freight company said Thursday that the cost of shipping a 40-foot container from China to the U.S. West Coast dropped nearly half in the previous four days, going from about $15,000 to just over $8,000. The spot rate for shipping to the East Coast had fallen by more than one-quarter from over $20,000 to less than $15,000.

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