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© Andrii Yalanskyi

Container spot rates from Asia to Europe have been falling again this week, while rates on the transpacific are beginning to ease, but for both tradelanes spot rates remain significantly elevated.

After a loss-making fourth quarter of 2023 ocean carriers have moved back into the black this year as a result of the huge spikes in rates and surcharges they succeeded in implementing due to the Red Sea crisis supply chain disruptions.

It remains to be ...

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  • Marcus Horner

    February 03, 2024 at 10:35 am

    I remember reading some years ago that sailing around Africa was actually lower cost than through Suez due to the price of Suez transit vs fuel and labour on a longer route. Oil prices are higher now, but have you done the maths on whether the cost is actually higher?

    • Mike Wackett

      February 05, 2024 at 1:07 pm

      Hi Marcus – my back of a cigarette packet calculations:
      The Suez toll for a fully-loaded 24,000 teu vessel, around $800,000.
      Against 10 days @ 150 ton x $500 = $750,000.
      So not much in it – but 2 more ships needed per loop.