The latest attempt by carriers on the Asia-Europe main trade to impose general rate increases (GRIs) is already being eroded by dropping spot rates – the eighth time since January that GRIs have failed to hold. At the end of last week the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI) revealed that spot rates from Asia to northern Europe fell 24.9% to US$833 per TEU, while falling 21.4% to $880 from Asia to the Mediterranean. This followed the previous week’s 177% increase from the lines implementing their GRIs on August 1. This indicates that rates are back in the “just break even” area – estimated to be between $800 and $1 000/TEU on the Asia-Europe trade.
Main trade GRIs again fail to stick
