Xeneta container rates alert: long-term ocean freight rates on the rise again, as demand, congestion and geopolitical uncertainty squeeze shippers
After a rare dip in long-term contracted ocean freight rates in December and January, container shipping costs are rising once again, with a 3.9% increase in February. The development, revealed in the latest Xeneta Shipping Index (XSI®) Public Indices, means rates have risen across 15 of the last 17 months. They currently stand 87.9% up year-on-year. Furthermore, notes Oslo-based Xeneta, ongoing congestion, high demand and a new level of geo-political angst are unlikely to reverse that trend any time soon.
“It’s a worrying time for shippers,” states Patrik Berglund, CEO of Xeneta, which compiles the unique XSI® by crowd sourcing global rates data.
“Pandemic disruption is, to some extent, abating, but demand remains high and capacity maxed out. The congestion we continue to see, particularly at US ports, is a sign of this, with waits of approximately 35 days at Long Beach and 25 days at Los Angeles. Carriers looking to deploy tonnage on the East Coast to avoid this are simply transferring the problem, with recent reports of 31 vessels waiting to berth at Charleston.”
Nevertheless, Berglund adds that future predictions are almost impossible to make in this fast moving market. He notes that regulators from across the globe are now investigating potential cartel activities by the carriers, which could have enabled the unprecedented rates rise, but that, despite shipper allegations of profiteering and collusion, no evidence has yet come to light.
Xeneta’s XSI® delivers insights into the latest rates developments on all major trade corridors, with February’s intelligence revealing near universal rates rises on key import and export benchmarks.
In Europe, imports climbed by 8.0% across the month (up 86.3% year-on-year) while exports rose by 6.1% (up 9.9% since the end of 2021 and 68% year-on-year). Far East imports and exports followed a similar pattern. The import index now stands at an all-time high, up 2.2% this month (32% year-on-year), and exports climbed by a healthy 5.2%. This latest increase pushed the benchmark a staggering 116.9% higher than in February 2021.
In the US, imports and exports bucked the trend somewhat, both registering declines, albeit seen against significant year-on-year gains. Imports dropped by 4.8% with exports declining 2.2%, leaving the respective benchmarks up 83.2% and 23.6% year-on-year.
Xeneta’s XSI® is compiled from the latest crowd-sourced ocean freight rate data aggregated worldwide. Companies participating in the benchmarking and market analytics platform include names such as ABB, Electrolux, Continental, Unilever, Nestle, L’Oréal, Thyssenkrupp, Volvo Group and John Deere, amongst others.
About Xeneta
Xeneta is the leading ocean and air freight rate benchmarking and market intelligence platform transforming the shipping and logistics industry. Xeneta’s powerful reporting and analytics platform provides liner-shipping stakeholders the data they need to understand current and historical market behaviour – reporting live on market average and low/high movements for both short and long-term contracts. Xeneta’s data is comprised of over 280 million contracted container and air freight rates and covers over 160,000 global trade routes. Xeneta is a privately held company with headquarters in Oslo, Norway and regional offices in New York and Hamburg.
