News / Calm before the storm: shippers brace for hefty Asia-Europe rate hikes

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Asia-North Europe shippers are bracing for a wave of FAK rate increases and peak season surcharges this month as carriers look to capitalise on several weeks of fully booked ships.

The North Europe component of today’s Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) edged up slightly, by $9 to $910 per teu, in what shippers fear is the ‘calm before the storm’.

“The market remains strong on the Asia-Europe route,” Martin Holst-Mikkelsen, head of ocean freight EMEA at Flexport, told The Loadstar.

“We are seeing ...