Spot freight rate levels on the major east-west container trades this week remained flat, as the third-quarter peak season swung into gear. It is now less than three months until China’s Golden Week holiday, on 1 October, that will see the country’s factories shut for seven days – and, given the extended voyage times on many trades, it is likely to act as an informal deadline for the end of the peak season for some shippers. However, shippers have at last had a few days’ breathing space after months of escalating prices, with few new peak season surcharges and FAK general rate increases applied over the past week, and spot pricing followed a trend we have noticed since May – double-digit week-on-week price increases normally take place in the first and third weeks of each month, after carriers apply new rate levels, while in the second and fourth weeks, pricing tends to remain flat. It proved the case again this week – Drewry’s World Container Index (WCI) Shanghai-Rotterdam this week was flat, at $8,048 per 40ft, while Xeneta’s XSI short-term index saw the route grow 2%, to also finish on $8,047 per 40ft.
