Shipping lines’ attempts to use general rate increases (GRI) this month to improve their negotiating hand for annual contract resets have failed. They have one last chance in December, but their track record of getting GRIs to stick has been poor, reports Freight Waves.
Spot rates fall back again
The global composite of Drewry’s World Container Index (WCI) fell 6% in the week ending Thursday versus the prior week, to $1,384 per forty-foot equivalent unit. The global composite has given back all of its gains since the beginning of Q4 and is now down 1% versus Oct. 1.
All but one of the main east-west trade lanes is down from the beginning of the quarter, the Shanghai-Rotterdam lane being the exception.
Even in that lane, rates are declining. The WCI’s Shanghai-Rotterdam assessment was at $1,148 per FEU on Thursday, still up 9% from the beginning of the quarter but down 10% from the recent high on Nov. 9.
Shanghai-Los Angeles spot rates showed signs of life earlier this month but gave back the last of their quarter-to-date gains in the most recent week.
The WCI assessment of Shanghai-Los Angeles spot rates was $2,000 per FEU in the week ending Thursday, down 13% from the recent high in the week ending Nov. 9 and down 1% from the beginning of the fourth quarter.
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Source: Freight Waves
