Rates on the key FBX routes ex Far East have all slipped lower by varying amounts. However, overall, the past week has been a quiet one, with no major relevant market events happening.

FBX01 (China/East Asia – US West Coast) ended the week at $1,728/FEU, down $14/FEU from last Friday.

FBX03 (China/East Asia – US East Coast) ended the week at $2,703/FEU, down $23 compared with last Friday.

FBX11 (China/East Asia – North Europe) ended the week at $2,846/FEU, down $107 from last Friday.

FBX13 (China/East Asia – Mediterranean) ended the week at $2,999/FEU, down $81 from last Friday.

Come mid-October USTR port call fees for Chinese linked tonnage will come into effect for US port calls. Some liner operators have, where possible, been swapping Chinese built/owned tonnage out of services that loop into the US and moving them into Med and North Continent services. However, this is only possible where vessels being used in the services are of a similar TEU capacity. Some liner operator’s tonnage is mostly Chinese linked and will be unable to avoid these charges, so these operators will likely have to adopt surcharges on their US services, so it will be interesting to see how this develops in Q4.