General Information - Report Type: Daily Report on Container Shipping Index [1] - Date: August 15, 2025 [2] - Research Team: Macro Finance Team [4] - Researchers: He Zhuoqiao, Huang Wenxin, Nie Jiayi [3] Report Industry Investment Rating No relevant content provided. Core Viewpoints - The peak of the shipping season has passed, and the SCFIS has further declined this week with an increasing decline rate. The spot freight rate has likely reached its peak and is expected to enter a downward channel in August. The 10 - contract is currently deeply discounted, and the market may engage in a game regarding the rate and magnitude of price cuts. It is recommended to short the 10 - contract on rallies [8]. Summary by Directory 1. Market Review and Operational Suggestions - Spot market: The peak of the shipping season has passed. This week, the SCFIS further declined with a larger decline rate. Main airlines have lowered their August quotes, and the freight rate is in a downward trend. The freight rate may return to the early - July level by late August. The demand side is unlikely to improve significantly, and the freight rate may be even lower in the off - season. The 10 - contract is deeply discounted, and it is recommended to short it on rallies [8]. 2. Industry News - From August 4th to August 8th, the China export container shipping market was basically stable, with the lack of growth momentum in transport demand. Most route freight rates continued to decline, dragging down the composite index. The Shanghai Export Containerized Freight Index on August 8th was 1489.68 points, a 3.9% decline from the previous period [9]. - China's exports in July increased by 7.2% year - on - year. The EU is China's second - largest trading partner in the first 7 months of 2025, with a trade value of 3.35 trillion yuan, a 3.9% increase year - on - year, accounting for 13% of China's total foreign trade value. In July, China's export growth to the EU reached 9.2%, which was the main driving force for the rebound in exports [9]. - The supply - demand relationship in the shipping market this week was weak, and the freight rates on European and Mediterranean routes continued to decline. On August 8th, the freight rate from Shanghai Port to European basic ports was 1961 US dollars/TEU, a 4.4% decline from the previous period; the freight rate to Mediterranean basic ports was 2318 US dollars/TEU, a 0.6% decline [10]. - The threat of the Houthi armed forces to global shipping has escalated. They have attacked an Israeli airport and "sanctioned" 64 shipping companies, which may disrupt shipping routes and affect freight rates [10]. - The US will maintain a 25% tariff on Japanese goods and may soon reach a trade agreement with India [10]. 3. Data Overview 3.1 Container Shipping Spot Prices - From August 4th to August 11th, the SCFIS for the European route decreased from 2297.86 to 2235.48, a 2.7% decline; the SCFIS for the US - West route decreased from 1130.12 to 1082.14, a 4.2% decline [12]. 3.2 Container Shipping Index (European Route) Futures Market - The trading data of container shipping European line futures on August 14th shows that different contracts have different price changes, trading volumes, and open interests. For example, the EC2510 contract decreased by 2.4, a 0.18% decline, with a trading volume of 32077 and an open interest of 56698 [6]. 3.3 Shipping - Related Data Charts - The report provides charts of global container shipping capacity, global container ship orders, Shanghai - European basic port freight rates, and Shanghai - Rotterdam spot freight rates, but no specific data analysis is provided in the text [16][19]