The Red Sea crisis has notably disrupted ocean freight rates from the Far East to the US, with an unprecedented surge of over 150%. However, recent data from Xeneta suggests a potential stabilization, as rates experienced a slight decline following the latest General Rate Increases (GRIs) in early February. Specifically, rates into the US East Coast dropped from USD$6260 to US$6100 per FEU, and West Coast rates decreased from US$4730 to US$4680. Xeneta, leveraging over 400 million crowdsourced data points, anticipates further market softening shortly.
Despite this, rates remain significantly elevated, with a 145% increase into the US East Coast and 185% into the US West Coast since mid-December. Xeneta's Emily Stausbøll comments, "Unlike during Covid-19...shippers and carriers now know what they are dealing with...Rates are still elevated, so the impact of this crisis is far from over." The upcoming TPM24 industry summit in Long Beach, California, marks a critical period for contract negotiations between ocean freight carriers and US shippers, potentially shaping the industry landscape through 2024.
Source: container-news.com