Analyst: Container shipping rates stable to falling

A Norway-based shipping and freight analysis company says long-term container shipping rates are declining globally, though the level of decline has leveled out in March compared with several prior months.

In a recent presentation, Norway-based Xeneta says its global container shipping pricing index (XSI) continued its downward trend in March, though at a slower pace than in previous months, adding that the XSI hit its all-time high as recently as August of last year and has declined 24 percent subsequently.

Xeneta says the smaller month-on-month decline in March may be more tied to there having been only a few contracts signed during the month rather than an increase in leverage for shipping lines.

The March figure, based on only a few contracts, showed contract rates actually increasing for companies shipping from the United States. The Xeneta analysis does not expect that circumstance to last, writing, “In the U.S., far more new contracts will start in April and particularly May, replacing last year’s older and much more expensive contracts and undoubtedly bringing the XSI down.”

Of interest to European recyclers and overseas buyers of European scrap, Xeneta found in March, rates fell for backhaul trades, such as Europe to East Asia.

Regarding the situation in North America, the analysis adds, “As per the timing of contracting in the U.S., we expect considerable drops in long-term rates in the region in May as new one-year contracts enter validity.”

U.S. container shippers may well be happy to hear from those wishing to book container freight. Xeneta says its rate tracking finds the XSI figure for U.S. exports has “the lowest reading among the sub-indexes, i.e. [it is] the trade that has grown the least compared to the starting point in 2017.”