Shipping Rates Continue to Plummet in May

Xeneta, the price comparison service for sea freight, reveals that the average container freight rates from Asia to North-Europe continues to drop to $2,564 per 40ft container and $1,341 per 20ft. Due to overcapacity and various economic turmoil in the market, the market index for 40ft has taken a massive dip with it being down 44% from May 2012.  
Xeneta's global market index for sea freight has seen a consistent downward slope the past months since the general rate increase was released in March and April. The fall in ocean rates could be seen across several popular trade lanes in Asia- North Europe. For the Shanghai to Rotterdam trade route, average shipping prices for containerized freight was as low as $1,141 per 20ft container and $1,978 per 40ft. This is contradictory to what Drewry's market index proclaims, saying that the average per 40ft in the same trade lane is at $1,335. Drewry's index is based on the rates collected from several freight sellers, whereas Xeneta collects actual data from a large member base of both freight buyers and sellers.
"Even though the market is dropping, there are still freight buyers that cannot keep up with the rapid fluctuations in the market, resulting in them overpaying on their routes. Xeneta reports that one of the best in class performers have a price under $1,200 per 40ft from Shanghai to Rotterdam," says CEO of Xeneta, Patrik Berglund . "That is why it's so incredibly important to benchmark your own prices against the market, and Xeneta is here to show you what you should be paying, instead of what you are paying," he adds.
Xeneta is on path to a global coverage of trade lanes, already covering 1,700 port pairs around the world and still growing swiftly. Among those trade lanes you can find several high-traffic ones like Hong Kong to Hamburg which operates at $1,998 per 40ft and Singapore to Bremerhaven at $2,038 per 40ft, last tracked 23/5/2013.
Source: Xeneta