XSI® Europe
The biggest drop across the XSI® indices in January was for European imports, falling by 18.4% to 143.8 points.
The biggest drop across the XSI® indices in January was for European imports. It fell by 18.4% to 143.8 points.
This is the second biggest month-on-month drop on this trade, beaten only by the 19.2% drop in April 2023.
While the XSI® for European imports posted the biggest drop in January, the index for European exports was the only one that rose in January, driven up by Asia-bound cargoes while Transatlantic trade lanes fell. A 1.5% increase from December leaves the index at 163.0 points.
European importers and exporters are some of the hardest hit by the Red Sea crisis.
Several big shippers have been forced to halt production in factories as the delays meant they didn’t have the required inputs.
It is now more than six weeks since the crisis escalated in mid-December and shippers are beginning to adjust to the new transit times.
No doubt this will focus on lowering freight costs after paying higher rates to secure volume commitments in the earlier weeks of the crisis.
