{"id":81924,"date":"2026-02-09T05:51:57","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T08:51:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shipping.einnews.com\/article\/890653871"},"modified":"2026-02-09T05:51:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T08:51:57","slug":"xeneta-weekly-ocean-container-shipping-market-update-average-rates-dropping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/02\/09\/xeneta-weekly-ocean-container-shipping-market-update-average-rates-dropping\/","title":{"rendered":"Xeneta Weekly Ocean Container Shipping Market Update: Average Rates Dropping"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Average spot rates have fallen on all Far East fronthauls to the US and Europe in the past week, but there may be a sting in the tail for shippers with carriers expected to begin blanking sailings more aggressively.<\/p>\n

Xeneta analyst insight<\/strong><\/p>\n

Peter Sand, Xeneta Chief Analyst:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAverage spot rates have fallen on all Far East fronthauls to the US and Europe in the past week, but there may be a sting in the tail for shippers with carriers expected to begin blanking sailings more aggressively.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe steepest spot rate decline is found from Far East to Mediterranean, down -6.6%, followed by -5.3% to North Europe, -5% to US East Coast and -3.1% into US West Coast.<\/p>\n

\u201cCarriers will begin blanking sailings more aggressively in a bid to tighten capacity and bring the decline in freight rates under control.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a shipper expects cargo to leave port on a certain date, they should factor the risk of that service being blanked \u2013 potentially at the last minute \u2013 and the subsequent ripple effects of delays on their supply chain.<\/p>\n

\u201cShippers may benefit from overcapacity if it forces lower freight rates, but if that overcapacity also causes increased blanked sailings, there could be an operational price to pay.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaersk has already reported a loss for its ocean segment in Q4 2025 (APMM Q4-2025 EBIT for Ocean at -$153m) and all carriers will face overcapacity challenges in 2026. Carriers will not sit and watch freight rates fall, with blanking sailings being just one tool at their disposal..\u201d<\/p>\n

Data highlights<\/strong><\/p>\n

Market average spot rates \u2013 5 February 2026<\/p>\n

Far East to US West Coast: USD 2,124 per FEU (40ft container)<\/p>\n

Far East to US East Coast: USD 2,946 per FEU<\/p>\n

Far East to North Europe: USD 2,466 per FEU<\/p>\n

Far East to Mediterranean: USD 3,929 per FEU<\/p>\n

North Europe to US East Coast: USD 1,491 per FEU\"WRU<\/p>\n

Offered capacity (4-week rolling average) \u2013 w\/c 2 February 2026<\/p>\n

Far East to US West Coast: -2.1% from a week ago<\/p>\n

Far East to US East Coast: +8.1% from a week ago<\/p>\n

Far East to North Europe: -1.3% from a week ago<\/p>\n

Far East to Mediterranean: -3.6% from a week ago<\/p>\n

North Europe to US East Coast: +9.6% from a week ago\"WRU<\/p>\n

Source: Xeneta<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

… decline in freight<\/span> rates under control. \u00e2\u0080\u009cIf a shipper expects cargo<\/span> to … overcapacity if it forces lower freight<\/span> rates, but if that overcapacity … will not sit and watch freight<\/span> rates fall, with blanking sailings …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81924\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}