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Gavin Van Mar (The Loadstar) –
Container spot freight rates in the key deep-sea east-west trade continued to decline modestly throughout the week, despite continued diversions of ships due to possible Houthi attacks in the Red Sea region.
But there are also pockets of trade where interest rates are rising rapidly.
For example, forwarders reported that shipping rates from Colombo, which has abundant air cargo flights to Europe, to Dubai have increased by 62% in just over a month due to limited air cargo capacity from Colombo.
“Ex-Colombo sea-air is witnessing a major boom. FCL bookings for sea-air from a number of well-known forwarders have increased significantly. This has also led to a proportional rise in sea-air freight rates for Colombo/Jebel Ali. and is increasing every two weeks.
“The price for a 40-foot CMB/DXB has gone from $800 to $1,300 in one month. We hike twice a month, and each hike costs about $200/40 feet. ” said one person. roadster.
Freight pricing platform Freitos said this week: “Ocean freight rates, which spiked at the start of the year due to Red Sea diversion and Lunar New Year demand, may be reaching a new diversion-adjusted floor.”
“The rate of decline from January and February peaks in affected non-Asia lanes has slowed in recent weeks, with recent rate announcements by some airlines pegging prices to Europe at 3,000 per 40 feet. It has been suggested that they would like to keep rates between US$3,500 and Europe between US$3,500 and US$4,300.”This month to the Mediterranean. ”
Three major spot freight indices, Freightos’ FBX, Drewry’s WCI and Xeneta XSI, recorded Asia/Nordic rates in that bracket. At Xeneta, the Asia/Nordic rate rose 1% week over week to end at $3,341 per 40 feet. Meanwhile, Freightos rose 2% to $3,258.
Meanwhile, Drewry recorded $3,078, down 3% week over week, but still 101% higher year over year.
In an attempt to halt the decline, Hapag-Lloyd announced a new FAK yesterday. [freight all kinds] A rate of $3,000 per 40 feet will apply between Asia and Northern Europe from April 15, but CMA CGM today announced a FAK of $4,000 per 40 feet for the same transaction, which will take effect on the same day. .
Also from April 15, Hapag-Lloyd will apply FAK rates of $3,700 per 40 feet to Western Mediterranean ports and $4,100 per 40 feet to Black Sea destinations, while CMA CGM has increased rates to $4,200 and $4,400, respectively. raise it to
MSC will also introduce new FAK rates for the Mediterranean and Black Sea on the same day, but they will be much more ambitious at $4,800 per 40 feet for Asia-Western Mediterranean cargo and $5,100 for Black Sea ports.
This price increase is thought to be related to the rise in fuel costs. Zim this week introduced a new Bunker Adjustment Factor (BAF) fee of $718 per teu for Asia-Mediterranean cargo, almost three times higher than other trades. This means that “as a result of temporary measures to reroute ships, the Houthis attack ships in the Red Sea.”
Trans-Pacific spot fares followed a similar pattern. Xeneta recorded his 4.2% decline in shipments from Asia to the U.S. West Coast to $3,474 per 40 feet. Meanwhile, Drewry recorded his 3% decline to $3,704. Drury also reported a 3% decline in service between Asia and the U.S. East Coast, to 4,894 flights per 40 feet.
As contract negotiations between carriers and North American customers are underway, it remains to be seen how much current spot rate levels will impact contract levels at the time of signing, and to what extent pricing remains an issue. It will be interesting to see what happens.
US maritime analyst John McCown wrote last week: “Both the prevalence and reliability of spot rates are misunderstood.
“While spot rate levels and trends are informative, they must always be analyzed in the context of what is happening at the more important contract rates,” he said.
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