Contract Freight Rates to Surge in 2017
Box rates expected to be 20%-40% higher than in 2016, but shippers are advised to sign deals after Chinese New Year when prices subside.
According to MANA, CONTRACTED freight rates on most ocean container trades will be 20%-40% higher in 2017 than in 2016, according to container shipping analyst Drewry.
“This happens every year,” he said. “So it makes sense not to make negotiations while spot rates are at their peak. Post-new year, rates will go down.”
Drewry director of research Neil Dekker said the days of annual growth rates of 4%-7% in the global container trade were “long gone”. But he added that 2017 trade expansion of 2.1% — up from 1.3% in 2015 and an estimated 1.3% in 2016 — would be “a little bit more positive” for the market.