Reefer freight rates exceed dry cargo

The recently published Reefer Shipping Annual Review and Forecast report also predicts this divergence to continue with projected average annual growth of 3.6% for containerised reefer trade up until 2027.

Drewry estimates that total worldwide seaborne reefer cargo declined to 137.5 million tonnes last year, representing a fall of almost 1%, the first time in over 20 years and compared to flatlining trade for dry cargo.

Supply chain disruptions, rising input costs and a return to normal demand after the peaks of 2021, all contributed to the decline, says Drewry.

Despite such adversity, reefer shipping trade is recovering through 2023, with every key reefer-intensive trade route reporting year-on-year growth so far this year. Seaborne volumes are projected to rise 1.5% by the end of the year with containerised reefer trade expanding at 2.3%, outpacing flatlining wider container shipping cargo demand.

Reefer container freight rates have been declining since their peak during Q3 2022 but at a more measured pace than for dry freight, says Drewry.

Drewry’s Global Reefer Container Freight Rate Index, a weighted average of pricing across the top 15 reefer intensive deepsea trades, declined 22% to US$4,840 per 40ft in the year to Q2 2023 with initial indications suggesting the fall will have accelerated to 31% by the third quarter. Despite such corrections, reefer container freight rates remain 60% above pre-pandemic levels, while pricing for dry cargo has reached parity.