Long-term contracted rates fell by 1.1% in September - Xeneta
The latest data from the Xeneta Shipping Index (XSI®) reveals long-term contracted rates fell by 1.1% in September. This is the first drop since January and one of only three declines in the past 21 months. However, analysts at Oslo-based Xeneta, which aggregates data from leading global shippers and freight forwarders, expect “it won’t be the last”, with market fundamentals suggesting the “halcyon days” of ever-increasing rates for carriers may be drawing to a close.
The industry has to bear in mind that this month’s, and upcoming, rates falls should be seen in a context of a market that’s been in overdrive for a sustained period of time.
Despite the decline, the XSI is currently 112% higher than it was in September 2021.
In Europe the import index fell 1.7%, while exports edged down 0.1%. However, the month-on-month picture is over-shadowed by spectacular year-on-year long-term contract growth, with rates up 123.7% for imports and 75.5% for exports against September 2021. Drops were also seen for both Far East import and export benchmarks, with the former falling 1.2% and the latter 3% (this month’s largest decline). The figures reflect falling volumes across the board, with cargoes into the region dropping 8.5% and those out sliding 1.4%.
The US export index is the only benchmark to buck this month’s trend, with marginal growth of 0.3%. Imports, meanwhile, fell by 0.7%, but should be seen in the context of a rates index sitting up 179.7% year-on-year.
Xeneta is the ocean and air freight rate benchmarking and market analytics platform transforming the shipping and supply chain industry. Xeneta’s powerful reporting and analytics platform provides liner-shipping and air cargo stakeholders the data they need to understand current and historical market behaviour – reporting live on market average and low/high movements for both short and long-term contracts. Xeneta’s data is comprised of over 300 million contracted container shipping and air freight rates and covers over 160,000 global trade routes. Xeneta is a privately held company with headquarters in Oslo, Norway and regional offices in New Jersey, USA and Hamburg, Germany.
