Transpacific spot rates top $10,000 as Asia-Europe slide accelerates

The useful part

"East Coast pricing remains significantly higher, with rates now above $10,000 and reaching approximately $11,000 per container in some cases. "Like the West Coast, the lane is experiencing constrained capacity and increasingly unstable vessel schedules," it said. A shipment can secure space and still see its scheduled departure pushed back several days.

How it works

• "When a booking rollover is combined with a delayed vessel departure, total delays can approach two weeks," it said.
• Comparing to the same period in 2022 – when Asia-US east coast were last at the same level as today – Asia-North Europe stood at around $9,000 per 40ft and Asia0-Mediterranean was at $11,000 per 40ft.
• "The freight rate resilience has been supported by stronger than expected demand even after the cargo demand peaked in May, and the severe port congestion in China in the last two months.
• "Waiting times in Singapore have risen to over four days due to vessel bunching," Linerlytica said earlier this week.

What to take from it

"The bigger operational concern is no longer price," Freight Right added. "With tight capacity and continued congestion in Asia, Drewry expects Asia-Europe rates to decline slightly next week, as demand remains weak," it said. A further factor is the increasing number of carriers returning to Red Sea routings, which has the effect of injecting capacity simply through the shorter sailing distances.

Example or evidence

• Related Stories Transpac spot rate climb takes a holiday as Golden Week arrives The beginning of China's Golden Week national holiday yesterday appears to have coincided with a...

Details worth keeping

Transpacific spot rates top $10,000 as Asia-Europe slide accelerates. This week's World Container Index (WCI) by Drewry saw its Shanghai-New York breach the $10,000 per 40ft level, the first time it has done so since during the latter days of Covid, after rising 7% this week to end at $10,394 per 40ft. "Vessel schedules have become increasingly unreliable.

Related coverage

• Freightwaves: Xeneta: Asia-US spot rates are nearing pandemic records after surging more than 320% since late February.
• Container News: Transpacific freight rates strengthened in the latest weekly readings, while Asia-Europe rates continued to move lower, reinforcing the widening gap between the two major containe...
• Joc: Liners are trying to halt a three-month rate slide on the trade lane but will have their hands full amid China's holiday export slowdown and significant capacity being injected as an increasing number of...
• Joc: Liners are trying to halt a three-month rate slide on the trade lane but will have their hands full amid China's holiday export slowdown and significant capacity being injected as an increasing number of...