- Freightos Baltic Global Container Index reached a record high of US$4,077/FEU in January, a 21% uptick from December and a 162% increase annually
- Asia-US West Coast rates increased 10% and East Coast rates were up 15% since December 25
- Asia-North Europe rates increased 38% month-on-month, and an incredible 288% compared to last year
- Asia-Mediterranean prices increased 43% month-on-month, a 233% gain annually
The Freightos Baltic Global Container Index (FBX), which provides market rates for 40-foot containers (FEUs), climbed to an FBX-high of US$4,077/FEU in January, a 21% uptick from December and a 162% increase annually, according to Freightos.
With the pandemic still raging and consumers still spending on goods instead of services, demand for ocean freight continued to surge through the normal post-holiday lull and straight toward Chinese New Year in February, said Judah Levine, research lead of Freightos, a world online freight marketplace.
Persistent peak level demand and volumes—especially in the form of containers arriving to the US West Coast from Asia—meant January brought no relief to the port congestion, delays, and shortage of empty containers back at Asian origin ports that have plagued the industry since November, he added.
Asia-US West Coast rates increased 10% to $4,262/FEU and East Coast rates hit $5,651/FEU, up 15% since December 25, though the West Coast rate is 180% higher than last year and East Coast is 93% more expensive.
And backhaul rates for US exporters to Asia continued to climb. US West Coast to Asia rates closed the month at $887/FEU, up 92% since the end of November, and East Coast prices hit $952/FEU, up 63% in the last two months.
The global container shortage also kept pushing prices up from Asia to North Europe and the Mediterranean, the report noted.
Asia-North Europe rates climbed to $7,830/FEU, up 38% on the month, and an incredible 288% compared to last year. Asia-Mediterranean prices increased 43% to $8,093/FEU, a 233% gain annually. Rates on both lanes have more than tripled in the course of three months.
“And in response to the crisis, carriers have been stopping bookings, skipping port calls, or blanking sailings in attempts to recover schedules. So the delays, disruptions to schedules, and scarce equipment mean that actual costs to shippers to secure increasingly scarce space—if they can secure a booking at all—are thousands more in premiums and surcharges,” Levine said.
Looking ahead, the report sees the backlog of volumes currently in demand and the current surge of the pandemic keeping demand high and equipment scarce well into the spring.
“This push would leave only a couple of months of possible downtime before this year’s peak season uptick in July,” said Levine.
Photo by Nilantha Ilangamuwa on Unsplash
