Peter T. Leach, Senior Editor | Mar 14, 2012 10:30AM EDT
Average trans-Pacific spot rates jumped this week as the 15 carrier members of the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement raised rates by $300 per 40-foot equivalent unit on eastbound containers, effective March 15.
The Drewry container rate benchmark for shipping a container from Hong Kong to Los Angeles, which had been flat to down since the first week in January, jumped to $2,013 per FEU, a rate 13.6 percent or $242 higher than last week.
The Drewry benchmark rate that was published Wednesday, March 14, is based on agreed spot rates effective this week and valid for the month ahead. This takes in account the TSA's GRI, according to Martin Dixon, research manager for Drewry’s Container Freight Rate Insight.
This week’s, Drewry benchmark is 18.9 percent higher than it was in the same week last year, when it was $1,693 per FEU.
The last time the Drewry trans-Pacific benchmark rose this year was during the week of Jan. 1, increasing 27.6 percent to $1,832 per FEU as TSA members sought a $400-per-FEU rate increase.
Contact Peter T. Leach at pleach@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @petertleach.
