Group 1: Investment Ratings - No investment ratings for the industry are provided in the report. Group 2: Core Views - The EC is currently in a contradiction between weak reality and strong expectations, and is highly volatile under the influence of Middle - East geopolitics and Sino - US tariff policies [2][17]. - On Wednesday, the futures market fluctuated upwards under the influence of local news, shipping company price hikes, and capital position transfers. YML released a Week 44 spot price quote of $1550 [2][17]. - The downstream is currently booking space for late October. OA quotes $1800, PA quotes $1500, and GEMINI quotes around $1600, with an optimistic average of $1640 (equivalent to 1150 points on the futures market). Week 43 OA had good cargo intake, while PA and GEMINI alliances had average intake, with a possibility of further price drops (more offline) [2][17]. - The settlement price of the 10 - contract is expected to be between 1050 - 1100 points. Given the tight shipping capacity in Week 44, the price hikes announced for the first half of November are expected to be difficult to implement. However, there are still upward drivers at multiple future price - hike nodes. Currently, the valuation of the 12 - contract is high, and the long - position trading has returned to a driver - based period. Geopolitics has a significant impact on 2026 contracts [2][17]. Group 3: Summary by Relevant Catalogs Futures Contracts - EC2510: Yesterday's closing price was 1120.6, down 1.37%, with a basis of - 88.8, a trading volume of 3412, an open interest of 11335, and an open - interest change of - 1820 [2][17]. - EC2512: The price was 1708.6, up 2.06%, with a basis of - 676.8, a trading volume of 42616, an open interest of 27023, and an open - interest change of - 168 [2][17]. - EC2602: The price was 1463.4, down 0.07%, with a basis of - 431.6, a trading volume of 8209, an open interest of 9822, and an open - interest change of 112 [2][17]. - EC2604: The price was 1142.0, with a basis of - 110.2, and a trading volume of 4498, an open interest of 13676 [2][17]. - EC2606: The price was 1306.6, down 0.93%, with a basis of - 274.8, a trading volume of 385, an open interest of 1510, and an open - interest change of - 31 [2][17]. Month - to - Month Spreads - EC2510 - 2512: The spread was - 588.0, compared to - 537.9 the previous day and - 433.1 the day before that, with a daily change of - 50.1 and a weekly change of - 19.9 [2][17]. - EC2512 - 2602: The spread was 245.2, compared to 209.7 the previous day and 202.6 the day before that, with a daily change of 35.5 and a weekly change of - 36.8 [2][17]. Index Data - SCEIS: Updated every Monday, announced on 2025/10/13, at 1031.80 points, down 1.40% from the previous period and 6.60% from the period before that [2][17]. - SCEI: Updated every Friday, announced on 2025/10/10, at $1068 per TEU, up 9.99% from the previous period and unchanged from the period before that [2][17]. - CCFI: Updated every Friday, announced on 2025/10/10, at 1287.15 points, down 8.19% from the previous period and unchanged from the period before that [2][17]. - NCFI: Updated every Friday, announced on 2025/10/10, at 698.67 points, up 11.39% from the previous period and 2.13% from the period before that [2][17]. News and Events - Shipping companies MSK, CMA, and OOCL announced price hikes to around $2500 in November, equivalent to around 1750 points on the futures market. However, due to the average cargo intake of many shipping companies in Week 43 and tight shipping capacity in Week 44 (330,000 TEU), these price hikes are expected to be difficult to implement [2][17]. - On October 15, negotiations on the second - stage cease - fire agreement in Gaza were launched. The key points of the US government's "20 - point plan" include the complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip, the disarmament of Hamas, the establishment of an international stabilization force, and the formation of a Palestinian independent technical bureaucracy committee. Hamas insists on Israel ending the occupation and Palestinian state - building as a prerequisite for complete disarmament, and the Israeli government currently only agrees to the first - stage agreement, suggesting that subsequent negotiations will not be smooth [2][17]. - On October 15, the Israeli government expected Hamas to return all hostages, decided to open the Rafah crossing, and the Israeli Defense Minister ordered the military to formulate a comprehensive plan to "crush Hamas" if the Gaza conflict resumes [2][17]. - Trump threatened that if Hamas does not abide by the cease - fire agreement, Israel will resume action at his order without US military intervention [3][18].