Carriers opt for more blanked sailings to bolster freight rates

Container spot freight rates on all three of the largest east-west trades – Asia-Europe, transpacific, and transatlantic – were on the rise this week.

After three months of post-peak season declines, the Asia-Europe trades experienced a second week of spot freight rate increases, according to Drewry’s World Container Index (WCI).

The WCI’s Shanghai-Rotterdam leg was up 3% week on week, to end at to $3,632 per 40ft, while its Shanghai-Genoa route saw pricing increase 5%, to $4,152 per 40ft.

As is often the case, this week’s WCI Asia-Europe spot rate levels were indicated by last week’s Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI) figures, which showed Shanghai-North Europe at $3,547 per 40ft, and Shanghai-Mediterranean at $4,097 per 40ft, while analysts at Linerlytica noted that “actual spot rates remain weak with current carrier rates at below the SCFI’s assessment”, which chimes with some of the unsolicited spot market offers The Loadstar received from Chinese forwarders this week.

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