Data highlights
- Market average spot rates – 13 August 2025:
- Far East to US West Coast: USD 2018 per FEU (40ft container)
- Far East to US East Coast: USD 3174 per FEU
- Far East to North Europe: USD 3247 per FEU
- Far East to Mediterranean: USD 3337 per FEU
- North Europe to US East Coast: USD 1941 per FEU
- Market average on the Transpacific trade from Far East to US West Coast sits just above USD 2000 per FEU, the lowest it has been since end-2023, just as the Red-Sea crisis was escalating.
- While pace of the decline in June was high, rates are still sliding - falling 6% from end-July. This muted deterioration is the result of carriers’ smarter capacity management and no ‘stop-n-go’ demand volatility caused by tariff uncertainty.
- The extended pause of higher tariffs on Chinese/US goods for another 90 days into early November has a stabilizing effect - for now - with no immediate cargo rush expected.
- US East Coast – down 12.8% (or USD 464 per FEU) since end of July . This is second only to South America (down 18.3% / USD 1020 per FEU) as the trade showing the hardest decline out of all main Far East fronthauls.
- Far East to Mediterranean is down 8.2% since 31 July. If offered capacity in the coming week increases as expected, spot rates will continue declining unless there is an unexpected uptick in demand.
The latest average spot rate data is provided in the attached documents ‘Xeneta - weekly market update 13.08.25’ and ‘Xeneta - weekly market update chart 13.08.25’.
Xeneta analyst insight
Peter Sand, Xeneta Chief Analyst:
“The further 90-day extension of current tariff levels between US and China will not have a significant impact on shippers and we should not expect another cargo rush, as we saw immediately following the initial lowering of tariffs mid-May.
“Shippers have already embraced the first 90-day window of opportunity to frontload goods – there is no longer a pent-up demand to get goods into the US, so spot rates are expected to decline further in the coming weeks as capacity also increases.
“The massive challenge facing carriers is not restricted to the US-bound fronthauls, with offered capacity also increasing from Far East to North Europe and Mediterranean in the coming weeks, potentially putting further downward pressure on spot rates here too.”
Ends
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