“Spot” freight rates on Asia-Northern Europe lanes have continued to fall as continued uncertainty in international markets force container lines to delay February rate increases.
Seatrade Maritime reported that despite an American military build-up in the Arabian Gulf, weak demand is seeing spot rates tumble. Rising tensions in the Middle East will not be enough to prevent the fall in rates, said maritime consultancy, Linerlytica, who believe that rates are expected to remain weak even after the Chines New Year. Linerlytica highlighted that both the Premier Alliance and OCEAN Alliance are planning to add more capacity on their transpacific networks from April 2026 despite the uncertain demand outlook.
“The benchmark April 2026 EC freight futures is trading at a 35% discount to the latest SCFIS index from Shanghai to North Europe even after last week’s futures market rally with freight rates expected to remain below current levels for the rest of this year,” said the consultant. Carriers are reportedly slashing rates to fill bookings on both the Asia to Europe and Pacific trade lanes, reversing all the rate increases achieved in January’s European services, which are now under $2,500/FEU.