Container freight rates to N America from N Asia trump Southeast Asia in a rare flip
Spot container freight rates from North Asia to North America have surpassed those from Southeast Asia to North America in an atypical market situation, S&P Global Platts data showed.
For the last several months, prices from Southeast Asia to North America have been higher than those from North Asia, for a variety of reasons including decreased container availability and severe congestion issues at key transshipment ports in Southeast Asia.
In East Coast North America, it’s currently $450/FEU cheaper to ship from Southeast Asia than from North Asia. Prior to the flip, the Southeast Asia to East Coast North America freight rate was higher than the North Asia to East Coast North America freight rate, by around $100-$150/FEU in April. In March, the spread had peaked at $250/FEU.