The collapse in spot rates on fronthaul transactions has made headlines, but shippers on certain backhaul transactions have seen similarly large declines, with some transactions seeing spot rates fall for much longer than on fronthaul and falling below rates in January 2020,

“From Northern Europe to the Far East, the average rate for a standard FEU has dropped to $820 per FEU. This is down more than $1,000 per FEU (-56 percent) from its peak in May 2021, and has been steadily declining ever since. Compared to January 2020, the spot rate was even lower on November 14, down 6.8 percent. While it's a small savings, it's one of the first transactions to cross this milestone."

A similar return to pre-pandemic levels is yet to be seen across all backhaul trades, as spot rates on other trades fall much more slowly, the update said.

While the transpacific saw the fastest and deepest drop in spot prices on the fronthaul, the backhaul trade has seen only minor declines. “The average spot rate from the US West Coast to the Far East now stands at $1,100 per FEU after falling from the start of this year, but still up nearly 50 percent from January 2020.”

U.S. exporters have struggled for the past year and a half to find the containers they need to export goods, Xeneta said. “Not only did they see the price increases, but they also struggled as carriers refused to ship their goods to ship the empty containers back across the Pacific, where spot rates were much higher. Very few U.S. exporters were willing to pay a high enough spot rate to attract carriers to purchase more backhaul volumes.

Another backhaul trade that stands out from the development in the other direction is from the US East Coast to Northern Europe. "Here, spot rates have fallen from their peak in August, now averaging $750 per FEU." This represents a larger drop than the spot freight rate on the front haul of this trade, which is now beginning to follow the rest of the market as carriers add capacity to one of the most profitable trades, Xeneta said in its update.