The freight rate continued to fall for six consecutive weeks, and the American line plummeted by 18%!

Last week, the freight rate per FEU from the Far East to the West Line of the United States fell by $637, with a weekly decline of 17.97%. To $3,954, the weekly decline was 18.05%.

At the same time, the freight rate per TEU of the Far East-Europe line fell by 30 US dollars to 1,578 US dollars, with a weekly decrease of 1.87%; The freight rate per TEU of the Far East-Mediterranean line dropped by 191 US dollars to 2,624 US dollars, with a weekly decrease of 6.79%.

According to industry insiders, the recovery of shipments will become a key factor affecting the trend of freight rates. At present, the freight rate per FEU in the spot market is about 2200-2600 US dollars, while the contract price is maintained at 2500-3200 US dollars.

In response to this phenomenon, shipping companies plan to raise freight rates in March. In mid-February, major shipping companies, such as Maersk, CMA, Hyundai Merchant Shipping and Wanhai Shipping, announced that they would raise the freight rates of routes in Asia-Europe, trans-Pacific and Asia, with the increase generally ranging from 5% to 15%.

However, a week later, Maersk lowered its offer for the 10th week (March 3-9) to $3,200 /FEU. Mediterranean shipping company (MSC) continued to quote $2,290 /FEU at the end of February from March 1st to 2nd, and the price dropped to $3,940 /FEU from March 3rd.

At present, Yangming Shipping (YML) self-operated FP2 route offers 2800 USD /FEU, while other routes offer 3000 USD /FEU, which is the lowest FAK offer in early March.

It doesn't necessarily mean that the shipping company's price-keeping measures have not worked.

On February 24, it was revealed that some shipping companies have adopted strategies such as reducing classes and controlling cabins and announcing an increase in advance to stabilize freight rates for European routes. However, since March is the traditional off-season of European routes, the market cargo volume rebounded after the holiday, but it fluctuated greatly and recovered slowly. In addition, most shipping companies have not resumed the operation of the Red Sea route, and the market's acceptance of price increases is generally low.