With a second month of increases in long-term contracted ocean freight rates across key trading routes, 2019 ended on a positive note for the world’s leading containership operators. According to the latest XSI® Public Indices report from Xeneta, which provides unique market intelligence based on real-time crowd-sourced data from leading shippers, global rates climbed by 0.9 per cent in December (adding to a 0.9 per cent rise in November).
However, despite the welcome upswing, after well over a year of steady decline (with the exception of a spike in May), major concerns remain. Chief among these, according to Oslo-based Xeneta, is market confusion concerning IMO 2020 sulphur surcharges.
Xeneta’s XSI® Public Indices report utilises over 160 million data points, covering more than 160,000 port-to-port pairings, to provide unparalleled insight into the very latest market moves. The report makes for pleasant reading for carriers in December, with the slight increase pushing the index up by 4 per cent year-on-year. The rise should also be seen within the context of a 2.1 per cent decline reported at this time last year.
“It’s clearly been another good month for the liner industry,” comments Xeneta CEO, Mr Patrik Berglund, “but after the prolonged period of long-term contracted freight rates decline it was certainly needed! The huge spike in May, when rates soared by 11.5 per cent, was an anomaly, with prices continuing to fall away after that point. So, the moderate rise in November raised hopes that that established trend had been broken, and this increase seems to confirm that… for now.”
That said, Mr Berglund is quick to add a note of caution, explaining: “But, as always in this dynamic, unpredictable industry, that can change very quickly. That’s why it is essential for all parties in the container shipping value chain to keep up to date with the latest market intelligence. That really is the only way to achieve optimal value from contract negotiations,” he said.
