Transpacific rates continue to fall sharply, with increasing pressure on
carriers to lower their contract rate offers. The gap between current spot rates
and asking rates for the new 1 May 2024 contracts remain very wide, with the
majority of contracts still not concluded.
After failing to push through the 15 March GRI, carriers are also facing similar
resistance to the 1 April GRI of $1,000-2,000/feu with the low market conviction
that the hikes will stick. Although Transpacific freight volume