Huge differences in spot rates on major lanes: Xeneta

The recent trend of falling spot rates has left many shippers and the wider container shipping industry pondering how much it has fallen from last year until this summer, says Xeneta in its latest update.

"Despite the fall in spot rate over the summer, they are still much higher than a year ago on some major trades. Out of Xeneta's top 13 container trades, we selected only nine to conduct this analysis as the remaining four trades had less than 10 percent YoY growth. For example, no change in spot rate difference occurred for the U.S. West Coast to Far East route, which remained at $1,250/FEU."

The average spot rate for Xeneta's top 13 trades was $450/FEU lower than the average spot rate a year ago as of August 30, 2022 with the lion's share of the drop happening over the summer.

"The spot rates for the Mediterranean to the U.S. East Coast route have increased by $3,430/FEU and by $2,630/FEU for North Europe to US East Coast since August 30, 2021."

Since August 30, 2021, spot rates from the Far East to North Europe have declined $4,620, to the Mediterranean by $2,340 and to the U.S. West Coast by $2,150. Almost every major trade has experienced a significant change in the spot rate compared to a year ago, the update said.

Since July 1, 2022, the average spot rate for 13 major trades has declined by over 7 percent ($450/FEU).