From The Loadstar, July 5:
....MUCH MORESince the 1 July implementation of a series of peak season surcharges (PSS) and new FAK (freight all kinds) levels, the largest east-west container trades have seen a week of double-digit spot freight rate increases.
After several weeks in which most of the focus was on soaring spot rates on the Asia-Europe trades, this week it was the turn of the Asia-North America trades to post the largest increases.
Drewry’s World Container Index reading for its Shanghai-Los Angeles leg grew 12%, to finish at $7,472 per 40ft, while Xeneta’s XSI’s Asia-US west coast leg recorded a rate of $7,648 per 40ft.
Meanwhile, the WCI’s Shanghai-New York leg grew 17%, to end the week at $9,158 per 40ft, and the XSI tracked a similar trend to $1,146 per 40ft.
The WCI’s Shanghai-Rotterdam leg also saw double-digit growth, rising 10% to reach $8,056 per 40ft, with the XSI’s Far East-North Europe growing a similar amount, recording a rate of $7,897 per 40ft yesterday.
However, it is also clear that many forwarders and shippers are paying well above the quoted indexed rates in order to secure space in an increasingly strong demand environment, a situation that – on Asia-Europe trades at least – is now beginning to impact major box shippers with significant amounts of contracted volumes.
Freight forwarders in Europe this week told The Loadstar major shippers were being forced to pay space guarantee surcharges on at least a part of their volumes.
“Importers and big BCOs are now beginning to see the effect, with space getting ever tighter,” one forwarder said.“Even if their carrier has maintained its full commitment in terms of volumes – every carrier is down 30% to 40%, in terms of space – so from the middle of July, retailers that were on contracts are now having to accept $3,000-$4,000 increases on a least a portion of their boxes to get them loaded....
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