Amid continued weak demand, overcapacity and economic uncertainty, round-trip freight rates on Europe's main east-west trade routes to North America and Asia have fallen from last year's record highs and are now approaching pre-epidemic levels.
According to rate benchmark platform Xeneta, spot market prices between Asia and Northern Europe have fallen from record highs set at the start of last year, and this week transatlantic westbound freight rates fell to $1287/FEU, down 79.5 per cent from the beginning of the year and 83 per cent from the same period in 2022.
Rates from northern Europe to the East Coast of the United States are at their lowest levels in more than three years, down about 80% since January 1 alone, slightly above pre-pandemic prices. Xeneta's Asia-Nordic average interest rate has fallen by 41% since January 1 at $1308 per FEU, which is nearly 90% lower than the same period last year and is already at its lowest level since December 31, 2019. "
According to Platts, since January 1, the transatlantic westbound freight rate has been US $1,700 per FEU, down 71%. According to data from the Druri World Container Index, freight rates in Europe and the United States are US $2,670 per FEU, down 60% from the beginning of the year.
's Xeneta CEO Patrik Berglund said that with continued weak demand, macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty, and increasing overcapacity, it is difficult to see how the industry can reverse current trends.
Container trade statistics CTS's latest volume data show that in April from Asia to the west shipped 1.44 million TEUs, of which the Nordic share increased by 2.4 percent year-on-year to 882000 TEUs, and Mediterranean demand was strong.
this week, the average spot freight rate from Shanghai to Rotterdam fell to $1316 per FEU, down 23 percent from early 2023 and down 85.7 percent year-on-year. Lars Jensen, chief executive of Vespucci Maritime, said the "normalization" of transatlantic demand and interest rates had been lagging behind similar market developments in Asia-Europe trade.
Michael Vachs, CEO of Forto, the digital freight forwarder, Michael Wax's slightly more optimistic view of the European container shipping market, which he expects will recover "at some point. The supply and demand balance seen in 2021 and 2022 is unlikely to reappear anytime soon, as many ships have already entered the global market to meet today's demand.
According to Dreary, the container ship orders have a total capacity of 70000 TEUs, accounting for nearly 3% of the existing fleet capacity. When the container shipping market recovers, there will be many ships that can carry these goods.
freight forwarding network