XENETA: Far East to Europe spot rates rise despite Red Sea return as demand overrides supply

The Xeneta Weekly Ocean Container Shipping Market Update provides data and intelligence including the latest freight rate and capacity movements across global trades with supporting insight from Peter Sand, Xeneta Chief Analyst.

Xeneta analyst insight – Far East to Europe spot rates rise despite Red Sea return as demand overrides supply Peter Sand, Xeneta Chief Analyst: “Despite the continuing return of container shipping services to the Red Sea freeing up capacity in the fleet, spot rates from the Far East to North Europe and Mediterranean are up 6.8% and 5.8% respectively from a week ago. This follows steady decline since July before spot rates reached an invisible floor last week and are now starting an upward trend.

“This is a conundrum because the release of capacity into the global fleet should ease pressure on rates, but we are seeing the opposite. Spot rates are still up 67% into North Europe and 33% into Mediterranean compared to pre-Hormuz crisis on 28 February.

“Part of the answer to the conundrum of rates holding up in the face of increasing capacity is found in strong demand on these lanes, with volumes shipped from Far East to Europe up 12.2% in the first seven months of the year.

This story was originally published by Hellenic Shipping News. Read the full story at Hellenic Shipping News →