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Welcome to the November 2020 turkey edition of the Xeneta Shipping Index (XSI®) for the contract container market. Below is a snippet of how the long-term container market has moved in the 11th month of 2020. Gobble, gobble, gobble for our US-based readers.
Throughout the pandemic the Xeneta Shipping Index, reporting on the contract ocean freight market, has painted a picture confounding industry expectations, as carriers have deftly balanced supply and demand (removing tonnage, blanking sailings and altering routes) to not just protect rates, but boost them.
The latest Xeneta Shipping Index (XSI®) Public Indices report notes that leading container shipping companies are continuing to weather the pandemic storm, and its economic shockwaves, with success – pushing long-term contracted rates up for the second successive month. In the November 2020 figures, rates were seen to climb by 1.9% over November, building on a gain of 1.3% in October. The index is now 1.9% up year-on-year, with a 0.9% rise since the start of 2020. Many wonder if this uptick will last into 2021.
With the spot market at explosive rates for many corridors, the question is whether the contract market will follow, as expected, it's spot market brother.
XSI® - Europe Imports / Exports
Imports on the European XSI ® fell by 0.4% in Nov-20 to 110.13 and have seemingly found a floor for now, with the benchmark hovering around this level for the past six months. Nevertheless, European imports are down 2.7% year-on-year and have fallen by 4.4% since the end of 2019.
XSI® - Far East Imports / Exports
Far East imports on the XSI ® jumped by 3.8% in Nov-20 to 96.84 points. This represents the single largest month-on-month increase since May 20 and takes the benchmark 2.0% higher than the same period of 2019. However, year-to-date it is still down 1.8%.
XSI® - US Imports / Exports
US imports on the XSI ® rose by 2.8% in Nov-20 to 123.96 points. The benchmark is now up 0.4% year-on-year but is still down 0.9% compared to the end of 2019. Exports remained almost unchanged compared to the previous month at 88.66. The index has failed to maintain any upward momentum and remains 7.7% down year-on-year and 7.5% lower than in Dec-19.
Get the full November 2020 XSI report (PDF) with all the market movement graphs here.
MEDIA: Please have a look at the press release here.
Happy Thanksgiving 2020! Be well and take care of each other. Best wishes from Xeneta.
