Asia-North America Container Rates Tumble After Tariff Front-Loading 'Fever'

While the busiest U.S. ports celebrated record volumes in July thanks to tariff-dodging businesses, the celebration was short-lived as container rates continue to fall, with demand seemingly saturated by the front-loading of shipments.

In an update, consultancy Xeneta said the market average rate on the benchmark transpacific route from the Far East to U.S. West Coast ports was just over $2,000 per FEU (forty-foot equivalent unit) for the week ending August 13, the lowest level since late 2023 during the Red Sea crisis.

This compares to $2,098 for the week ending August 6.

The rate from the Far East to the U.S. East Coast was $3,174 per FEU, down from $3,311 the previous week. The North Europe to U.S. East Coast route stood at $1,941 per FEU, down from $2,015.

Xeneta said that carriers' capacity management and reduced tariff uncertainty helped to slow the overall rate slide to 6% in July, after prices had plummeted by as much as 53% on the transpacific in June.

No immediate surge in shipments is expected after the Trump administration extended its 90-day pause on higher tariffs for Chinese imports until early November.

Among the major shipping lanes from the Far East, the rate to the U.S. East Coast has fallen by 12.8%, or $464 per FEU, since the end of July, second only to the 18.3%, or $1,020 per FEU, drop on the route to South America.

The rate from the Far East to North Europe fell to $3,247 per FEU from $3,330, while the Far East to Mediterranean route slipped to $3,337 from $3,372.

Xeneta noted that rates on the Far East to Mediterranean route have dropped 8.2% since July 31, adding that an expected increase in vessel capacity will only exacerbate the decline in spot rates if there is no corresponding rise in demand.

"The further 90-day extension of current tariff levels between U.S. and China will not have a significant impact on shippers and we should not expect another cargo rush, as we saw immediately following the initial lowering of tariffs mid-May," Xeneta Chief Analyst Peter Sand said in a note. "Shippers have already embraced the first 90-day window of opportunity to frontload goods – there is no longer a pent-up demand to get goods into the U.S., so spot rates are expected to decline further in the coming weeks as capacity also increases. The massive challenge facing carriers is not restricted to the U.S.-bound fronthauls, with offered capacity also increasing from Far East to North Europe and Mediterranean in the coming weeks, potentially putting further downward pressure on spot rates here, too."

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Source: Phaata.com (According to Freight Waves)

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