News / With spot rates falling, carriers blank more sailings and plan surcharges

Container spot rates continued their decline this week across most Chinese export routes, prompting ocean carriers to blank more sailings.

The Ningbo Containerized Freight Index (NCFI) today recorded falls on all but five of the 21 routes covered by its composite index, shedding a further 1.7%, to 3,613.9 points.

It said demand on the North European and Mediterranean markets was “sluggish”, resulting in “rates coming under pressure”.

Indeed, all three published indices reflected 4% to 5% decreases in their North European components, with ...