News / Long-term rate increases losing momentum as carriers seek to lock-in BCOs

There are signs that the exponential rise in long-term liner contract rates is losing steam after 14 consecutive months.

Ocean and air freight rate benchmarking platform Xeneta’s XSI long-term contract rate index fell 3.6% this month, following a decline of 1.6% recorded in December.

The XSI decline could be a blip, but it could reflect carrier aspirations of signing-up shippers to long-term deals at all costs.

Interestingly, there was a sharp 7.6% drop in the XSI’s European import component in January, the traditional ...