The Roller Coaster of Freight Rates: Logistics Economics Under the Game of Supply and Demand

The Red Sea crisis in 2023 led to a 20% reduction in the volume of the Sui-10 Canal, directly pushing up the freight rates on the Asia-Europe route by three times. This "black swan" event reveals the vulnerability of logistics costs: A cross-border e-commerce enterprise sent 3,000 down jackets to Europe. It originally chose a 20-day sea freight (cost $1.2 per piece), but due to a delay in the shipping schedule, it temporarily switched to air freight (cost $15 per piece). The logistics link alone swallowed up 12% of the profit margin. However, the market also holds a turning point. Relying on the advantage of being the "Silk Road on the Railway tracks", the China-Europe Railway Express saw a 45% year-on-year increase in its operation volume in 2024. The train from Chengdu to Lodz has reduced the transportation time of auto parts to 12 days, which is twice as fast as sea transportation and only one-third of the cost of air transportation. Smart shippers have started to play the "transportation combination strategy" : high-value 3C products are transported by the China-Europe Railway Express, while bulk textiles are taken by offshore feeder vessels to avoid congestion on the main shipping routes.