Long-term contracts continue to be expensive, says Xeneta

Long-term rates on major trades are declining but not at the same pace as the spot rates, according to the latest update from Xeneta. "Shippers are forced to sign long-term contracts and pay substantially more than spot market rates on some trades. On average, across the six main trades out of the Far East, the spot rate has fallen by 75 percent since the start of the year. On the long-term side, not all of the trades have seen a fall. On average, the long-term rate has fallen only by 13 percent across these six main trades out of the Far East."