Xeneta: Jump in contracted freight rates for container ship sector as new contracts finalised

Analytics platform Xeneta has revealed a jump in long-term contracted rates for container ship operators during May, as 2018 rates expire and new contracts push the index upwards.

According to the XSI Public Indices Report – based on crowd-sourced data covering over 160,000 port-to-port pairings– global rates leapt by 11.5% across the month, with US rates for imports climbing by close to 20%.

The increase follows on from a dire April for contracted liner business, with the indices at that point slumping by 4.2% (after two months of increases).