International Maritime

Ocean carriers line up hefty rate hikes on oversupplied Asia-Europe trade

By Greg Knowler

Excess capacity and weakening demand are exerting downward pressure on Asia-North Europe container rates, with various indices showing the spot market has lost more than 60 % of its value since the beginning of the year.

Several carriers have announced rate increases that— if successful— would bring pricing to more than $ 3,000 per FEU from June 1 to try to slow the spot market slide but may struggle to find much support in an oversupplied market.

CMA CGM set its freight all kinds( FAK) rate from Asia to North Europe at $ 3,100 per FEU on June 1, while Mediterranean Shipping Co.( MSC) and Hapag-Lloyd set their rates at $ 3,200 per FEU. The latter are also raising their Asia-Mediterranean FAK rates, with MSC asking for about $ 5,000 per FEU and Hapag-Lloyd at $ 4,500 per FEU.

Those asking prices are significantly higher than current rate levels. Average spot rates from Asia to North Europe slid to $ 2,036 per FEU in the week of May 15, down from just over $ 5,000 per FEU in the last week of 2024, while Asia-Mediterranean rates fell to $ 3,152 per FEU from more than $ 5,800 per FEU during the same period, according to rate benchmarking platform Xeneta.

Platts, a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S & P Global, pegged Asia – North Europe rates at $ 1,600 per FEU, down almost 70 % from early January, and Asia-Mediterranean pricing at $ 2,700 per FEU, down 50 %. The supply chain director for a Germany-based Asia- Europe shipper said he saw offers as low as $ 1,200 per FEU, putting pressure on carriers to slow the decline.

“ I can understand the pressure carriers are under, and they are asking for more cargo but many BCOs( beneficial cargo owners) have declining cargo flows, so the market is

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Container lines are seeking Asia – Europe rates that are more than 50 % higher than current market averages. Felix Marx / Shutterstock. com really imbalanced,” the source said, adding that there was little chance the rate hikes would stick.

“ Our demand is the same as it was at this time last year, which is a slack period,” he said.“ The rate increases will not be 100 %, but they may stabilize falling prices. Whether there will be another advanced peak season is impossible to gauge, but everything is possible in this market.”

‘ Frustrated cargo’

Peter Sand, chief analyst at Xeneta, told the Journal of Commerce that the mismatch between offered capacity and demand was keeping spot rates under pressure.

“ While rates and demand are going up on the trans- Pacific, spot rates are sliding into Europe,” he said.

The container shipping order book of 8.6 million TEUs in capacity is about 27 % of the in-service fleet, according to Sea-web, also part of S & P Global. Nearly 1 million TEUs in capacity will be delivered this year, mostly large ships that can only be deployed on the Asia-Europe trade, while only 4,000 TEUs are set to be scrapped.

Only 6.5 % of capacity was blanked in May, while carriers deployed a record 1.12 million TEUs, according to data from ocean visibility provider eeSea.

Sand noted that the tariff cuts on the China-US trade following a 90-day deal has“ changed the picture,” with some cargo diverted from the trans-Pacific to Asia – Europe.

“ One month of‘ frustrated cargo’ that didn’ t go from China to the US is on its way to Europe, the Middle East and South America,” he added.“ Congested northern European ports will be facing a rush in June on the back of this.”

North Europe’ s largest port gateways have been struggling with persistent congestion that has delayed vessels and hampered container operations for months. The reasons include full container yards, port strikes and slowdowns, labor shortages during several public holidays in May, crane engineering works in some terminals and changing carrier alliance networks.

email: greg. knowler @ spglobal. com

Asia – Europe rate slide shows no sign of slowing

Container spot rates from Asia to N. Europe and Mediterranean, in USD per FEU

USD per FEU

$ 10,000 $ 9,000 $ 8,000 $ 7,000 $ $ 10,000 6,000 $ 5,000 $ 4,000 $ 3,000

$ 2,000 $ 1,454 $ 1,000

L Jul Oct Jan 2024 Apr Jul Oct Dec Jan, 2024 2025 Apr

Source: Xeneta

Asia-North Europe

Asia-Mediterranean

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June 2, 2025 | Journal of Commerce 23