Middle East situation, sending a major signal! The container shipping index (European route) futures plummet

The shipping index (European route) futures saw a notable decline. The benchmark 2606 contract once fell by more than 14%, with the session low briefly touching 2068 points. Song Jipeng, a shipping research analyst at Nanhua Futures, said that market concerns about navigation through the Strait of Hormuz are gradually easing. The geopolitical premium that had been priced into the shipping index (European route) futures earlier is beginning to give back, and on-screen trading is returning to fundamentals. At present, although the European route container shipping market has overlapping bullish and bearish factors, the real downside pressure during the off-season continues to weigh on the screen. Song Jipeng believes that the shipping index (European route) futures are expected to maintain a weakly ranging, weak-biased pattern in the short term. In particular, after the geopolitical premium is unwound, the main contract 2606 will continue to be pressured by weakness in the spot market. Although the market has expectations that shipping companies will raise prices in May, the delivery and settlement pressure faced by off-season contracts from earlier periods is more direct, which may curb market sentiment. Meanwhile, uncertainty in longer-dated contracts remains significant, and volatility stays relatively high. Investors should closely monitor the evolution of the geopolitical situation and the shipping companies’ actual pricing strategies. (Futures Daily)