CNSS has learned that, driven by the continued surge in Chinese electric vehicle exports, global pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) charter rates are again climbing toward the historical high of $100,000 per day. Although VesselsValue data shows that the current average daily market rate stands at about $67,000, modern newbuild vessels are already commanding significant premiums, with some recently concluded charters approaching $90,000 per day.

Last week, Atlas EMF, a joint venture between Greek shipowner Atlas Maritime and European Maritime Finance (EMF), announced that its newbuilding 7,000-CEU vessel Clean Star had been time-chartered to an unnamed Chinese operator at $80,000 per day for two years. The vessel is expected to be delivered this month by CIMC Raffles Shipyard. Atlas CEO Leon Patitsas said the agreement reflects the vessel's superior quality and the market's strong confidence in global PCTC fundamentals.

As recently as March this year, another 7,000-CEU newbuilding from the same series, Eco Star, was chartered to Wallenius Wilhelmsen at just $53,000 per day for one year shortly after delivery. In just five months, the rate has risen by more than 50%, underscoring the rapid warming of demand.

Even more striking is the recent charter by SAIC Anji Logistics, a subsidiary of SAIC Motor, of the newbuilding 7,060-CEU Lake Rotorua owned by Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS). Delivered by China Merchants Jinling Shipyard (Nanjing) shortly before, the vessel secured a daily rate as high as $90,000, setting a new near-term high.

China's auto export boom drives capacity demand

The core driver behind this surge in charter rates is the explosive growth of Chinese auto exports.

According to statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, China's automobile exports reached 5.096 million units in the first half of 2026, up 65.3% year-on-year; among them, new energy vehicle exports amounted to 2.355 million units, a 1.2-fold increase year-on-year. In June alone, monthly exports hit 1.037 million units, up 75.1% year-on-year, marking the first time China's monthly auto exports have exceeded the one-million-unit mark.

Strong export demand has quickly absorbed the new capacity added in recent years, and the charter rates that had "normalised" in the second half of 2024 amid a wave of new deliveries are once again turning upward. Previously, PCTC daily rates peaked at $100,000 in August 2022 before retreating, and are now approaching that threshold again.

The tightness in capacity is not limited to the newbuilding market; older vessels are also in demand. SFL's two 6,500-CEU vessels, *SFL Composer* (built 2005) and SFL Conductor (built 2006), were recently time-chartered to COSCO at approximately $40,000 per day for as long as 34 months, indicating that downstream demand now covers all vessel age segments.