Peter T. Leach, Senior Editor | Apr 25, 2012 8:55AM EDT
Trans-Pacific spot rates eased slightly this week after their 19.9 percent spike last week, which followed carriers’ mid-month general rate increases.
The Drewry Container Rate Benchmark slid by 2.8 percent from last week, settling at an average of $2,337 for shipping a 40-foot container from Hong Kong to Los Angeles.
This week’s benchmark indicated that eastbound spot rates are holding most of the ground they gained last week following the $400 per FEU GRI that carrier members of the Trans-Pacific Stabilization Agreement put into effect on April 15.
This week’s spot rate is 30.2 percent higher than the benchmark in the same week last year, when it was $1,795 per TEU, and 62.7 percent higher than the $1,436-per-FEU benchmark in the last week of 2011.
Carriers have been ratcheting up rates this year in an effort to stanch renewed losses estimated at more than $6 billion worldwide last year.
Contact Peter T. Leach at pleach@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @petertleach.
