Ocean rates stay high as retailers struggle to build stock

With recent news of overwhelming demand causing shipments to be rolled even on newly minted, extremely expensive annual contracts, now’s a good time to take a look at our recent report on how BCOs and freight forwarders are adapting their approach to annual tender negotiations going forward.

Key insights:

Ocean rates remain extremely elevated on most lanes, with Asia-North Europe rates climbing 7% to a new high, and US East Coast-Asia backhaul prices spiking 25% to $1,022/FEU.

Recent analysis shows that even with months of peak-level volumes, strong sales are preventing retailers from building inventories, meaning possible holiday season stockouts and elevated ocean rates even once consumer demand cools.  

China-US rates:

• Asia-US West Coast prices (FBX01 Daily) fell 3% to $5,473/FEU. This rate is still 218% higher than the same time last year.
  
• Asia-US East Coast prices (FBX03 Daily) increased 1% to $7,481/FEU, and are 173% higher than rates for this week last year.
  

Source: FBX Weekly