Box freight rate indices hit new highs as Asia-Europe route approaches $6,000 per teu

Carriers still hold all the cards in both spot and contract rate setting. Few options appear open to hard-pressed shippers CONTAINER freight spot rates to Europe ex-Asia have continued their relentless rise, with rates now closing in on $6,000 per teu for Shanghai-northern Europe volumes.For the third week in a row, freight rates on the spot market to both northern Europe and the Mediterranean reported by the Shanghai Shipping Exchange have sat at over $10,000 per feu, and the 4.2% and 5.2% increases, respectively, will put yet more pressure on shippers.The Shanghai Containerised Freight Index rose another 1.8% this week as a decline in transpacific rates to the US west coast mitigated rises elsewhere.

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