The Global XSI® continued its downward trend in February, albeit at a much slower pace than its biggest ever month-on-month drop, which was recorded in January.
It fell by 2.74% from January, down to 354.2 points.
The Global XSI® has now fallen for six consecutive months. Since its peak level the August, 22% has been shaved off.
Compared to February 2022 the global XSI® is up by 43.0%, and compared to the pre-pandemic month of January 2020 it is up by 207.7%.
The much smaller drop in February, when compared to the record of January, comes on the back of higher long-term rates on export trades from North America.
The sub-index North American exports recorded an all-time high of 1994.9 points in February. This was 16.5% above the January level.
XSI ® - Europe Imports / Exports
The XSI® for European Imports rose to 356.4 points in February, down 91.5 since the August peak. Compared to February last year, the XSI® remain elevated by 31.6%.
The higher XSI® comes mainly from imports into the Mediterranean Sea coming from US East and West Coasts. On this trade, the average of all valid long-term rates rose by 49% and 86%, respectively, for the US West Coast and East Coast.
However, few trades into Europe included in the XSI® index saw large drops, like the one from Japan to the Mediterranean Sea, which fell by 13%.
The XSI® for European exports fell by 4.16%, down to 348.34 points. That leaves the index up by 65.3% from February 2022.
Steady declines are seen across the board, with exports out of the Mediterranean Sea to Korea and Japan falling the most.
XSI ® - Far East Imports / Exports
The XSI® for imports into the Far East lives a quieter life than its all-important export counterpart. This also goes for the development of the index, which fell by 7.72% in February from the month before. After that decline was recorded, the index only sits 13.6% above February 2022.
While the composite is calm on the surface, the individual trades that contribute ranged from 10.7% to a fall of 16.8%, with these extremes being recorded in minority trades. Main sub-trades for this index fell between 4% and 9%. Since the peak in August, the XSI® for exports out of the Far East have fallen consistently.
Most recently, by 6.55% in February from the earlier month but compared to the pre-pandemic month of January 2020, it is up by 244.5%. After the dramatic drops across the board in January, the double-digit declines in February were concentrated around Japanese, Korean and Chinese exports to US East and West Coast.
XSI ® - US Imports / Exports
The XSI® for US imports fell by 5.6% from January, down to 433.98 points. Following on from the fastest m-o-m decline of this sub-index on record in January, the decline's pace has eased while its direction was the same.
On all but two of the trades that make up this XSI® index went down. But for those on the lookout for lower long-term rates on the trades heading into the US East Coast from the South American East Coast and the Southern part of Africa, it was a disappointment to see a rise of 13% and 8%, respectively, following the declines experienced since November 2022. Overall, the XSI® for US imports is still up by 79.86% from a year ago.
The XSI® for US exports is special for February. It just hit an all-time high, rising by 13.86% to 179 points. Long-term rates rising from January to February were one of the same trade lanes that saw more costly transport for US imports.
XSI® Public Indices Report
Methodology
XSI ® Public Indices Report
Methodology
Rates delivered from freight forwarders and shippers
Based on long-term contracts only = any contract that is valid for longer than 88 days
Rates pulled from Xeneta’s ocean freight platform of +300m contracted rates
Indices based on an aggregation of trade-weighted corridors
Indices rates surcharges are based on all-in CY/CY pricing methodology
The global index is a combination of worldwide trade-weighted corridors not limited to the US, Europe and the Far East indices
Learn more about Xeneta and get ocean freight visibility with a freight spend analysis on your major trade lanes.
Find out where you can optimize your freight procurement strategy and stay one step ahead of the market, no matter the current rate and capacity conditions.
Contact Us Here
Disclaimer
The monthly XSI® Public Indices report gives an indication of the global market movements for the long-term contract market in the container shipping industry, focusing on the biggest regions in the world.
Xeneta does not recommend price-setting on this market report as it is based on an aggregation of trade-weighted uncorrelated corridors. If you are interested in index-based contracting, we recommend our XSI® index-linked contracting product. For more information, please contact us via www.xeneta.com
Xeneta is the leading ocean and air freight rate benchmarking, market analytics platform and ocean container rate index, Xeneta Shipping Index (XSI®).
Xeneta’s powerful reporting and analytics platform and data density provide liner-shipping stakeholders the insights they need to understand current and historical market behavior – reporting live on market average and low/high movements for both short and long-term contracts.
Xeneta’s data is comprised of over +300 million contracted container rates and covers over 160,000 global trade routes. Xeneta is a privately held company with headquarters in Oslo, Norway and regional offices in New York and Hamburg. To learn more, please visit www.xeneta.com
NOTE: The XSI® public indices reports are based on long-term contracts only.
© 2023 Xeneta AS
Learn how your peers are trusting Xeneta to radically improve their ocean and air freight procurement.
