Trans-Pacific spot rate falls for first time in three weeks
14/07/2012
Trans-Pacific spot rate falls for first time in three weeks. Average spot rates fell by 6.7 percent.
Average spot rates fell by 6.7 percent.
Average spot rates on the eastbound trans-Pacific trade lane fell 6.7 percent this week, in the first drop since carriers put a peak-season surcharge into effect on June 10.
The Drewry benchmark rate for shipping a 40-foot container from Hong Kong to Los Angeles fell to $2,519, a drop of $181 per FEU from the $2,700 per FEU level where it had perched for the previous three weeks.
“The decline in Drewry's Hong Kong-Los Angeles Container Rate Benchmark this week is probably due to the additional capacity deployed by several carriers in the past three months and to a reduction in carrier fuel surcharges,” said Philip Damas, director of Drewry Supply Chain Advisors.
The Drewry benchmark rate includes all surcharges, such as that for bunker fuel, except for terminal-handling charges at the port of origin.
Damas said most of trans-Pacific carriers reduced their spot trans-Pacific rates this week. “However, at $2,519 per 40-foot container, the spot rate benchmark is still high by historical standards, and considerably higher than most annual contract port-to-port rates.”
Carriers have been able to hold on to most of the four general rate increases implemented this year on the eastbound trans-Pacific trade. Most recently, the carrier members of the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement implemented a $600 per FEU peak-season surcharge on June 10.
Even after this week’s decline, the four general rate increases and the peak-season surcharge have lifted the Drewry benchmark rate by 75.4 percent from the $1,436 per FEU average in the last week of 2011.
This week’s benchmark rate is 43.6 percent higher than the same week a year ago, when it averaged $1,753 per FEU.
Average spot rates on the eastbound trans-Pacific trade lane fell 6.7 percent this week, in the first drop since carriers put a peak-season surcharge into effect on June 10.
The Drewry benchmark rate for shipping a 40-foot container from Hong Kong to Los Angeles fell to $2,519, a drop of $181 per FEU from the $2,700 per FEU level where it had perched for the previous three weeks.
“The decline in Drewry's Hong Kong-Los Angeles Container Rate Benchmark this week is probably due to the additional capacity deployed by several carriers in the past three months and to a reduction in carrier fuel surcharges,” said Philip Damas, director of Drewry Supply Chain Advisors.
The Drewry benchmark rate includes all surcharges, such as that for bunker fuel, except for terminal-handling charges at the port of origin.
Damas said most of trans-Pacific carriers reduced their spot trans-Pacific rates this week. “However, at $2,519 per 40-foot container, the spot rate benchmark is still high by historical standards, and considerably higher than most annual contract port-to-port rates.”
Carriers have been able to hold on to most of the four general rate increases implemented this year on the eastbound trans-Pacific trade. Most recently, the carrier members of the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement implemented a $600 per FEU peak-season surcharge on June 10.
Even after this week’s decline, the four general rate increases and the peak-season surcharge have lifted the Drewry benchmark rate by 75.4 percent from the $1,436 per FEU average in the last week of 2011.
This week’s benchmark rate is 43.6 percent higher than the same week a year ago, when it averaged $1,753 per FEU.
