Relief for shippers as spot rates decline – though not to pre-Covid rates

THINGS are turning in favour of shippers as spot rates for freight are expected to continue declining – though neither dramatically nor to pre-Covid levels – in the face of significant global headwinds, with consumer demand falling even as freight capacity grows.

“Shippers are increasingly tempted to go into the spot market, as short-term rates on several main trades fall below the level of long-term contract rates.,” said Peter Sand, chief analyst at Xeneta, the ocean and air freight rate benchmarking and market analytics platform.

“Xeneta data shows this has been the case for Far East to US West Coast since June; we expect it to happen for the Far East to US East Coast trade lane any day now,” he added.