TRANSPACIFIC rates from Hong Kong to Los Angeles declined in the second week in a row to US$1,457 per FEU in the third week of November, falling $64 from the previous week, according to the Drewry Container Rate Benchmark.
The rate have dropped 21.2 per cent or about $400 per FEU since late August, reported Newark's Journal of Commerce, which noted that the aggregate decline has reached the level of 29.9 per cent compared to the same period of last year.
Freight rates for both transpacific and Asia-Europe routes, the two busiest trade lanes in the world, have been shrinking for more than a year due to overcapacity and weaker-than-expected demands.
But compared with Asia-Europe trade, the pace of decline for transpacific rates is much slower as carriers have cut capacity by withdrawing services. Also, smaller carriers including Norway's TCC, Chile's CSAV, Horizon Lines of the US and Grand China Shipping have announced their withdrawal from transpacific trade owing to losses.
Seeing signs of stabilisation in transpacific trade, the Transpacific Stabilisation Agreement recently suggested its member carriers impose a rate increase of $400 per FEU from January 1.