Average spot rates rose sharply across key Far East trades last week as carriers actively curbed capacity in the run-up to 2026 contract negotiations, according to Xeneta.
As of 6 November 2025, average market spot rates stood at $2,756 per FEU from the Far East to the US West Coast, $3,492 to the US East Coast, $2,293 to North Europe, $2,899 to the Mediterranean, and $1,558 from North Europe to the US East Coast.
For the week of 3–9 November 2025, offered capacity showed mixed movement.
Capacity on the Transatlantic fronthaul rose by 19.8 per cent from the previous week, reversing earlier cuts in late October, while the Far East to North Europe trade saw the sharpest decline at 5.8 per cent.
Diverging trends were seen on US-bound routes from the Far East, with capacity to the US West Coast increasing by 4.1 per cent and to the US East Coast falling by 0.7 per cent.
Compared with one month ago, offered capacity from the Far East declined across all Europe- and US-bound routes, led by an 11.9 per cent drop to North Europe and a smaller 4.4 per cent fall to the US East Coast.
Average spot rates rose across all major fronthauls from the Far East during the past week, with a modest increase also seen on the Transatlantic.
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The largest week-on-week rise occurred on the Far East–US West Coast trade, up 28.2 per cent from 30 October, followed by the Far East–Mediterranean route, which increased by 24.4 per cent to a two-month high of USD 2,899 per FEU.
The spread between spot rates from the Far East to the US West Coast and East Coast narrowed sharply to a one-year low of $736 per FEU on 6 November.
This narrowing reflects carriers’ relatively successful implementation of general rate increases at the start of November, with stronger gains on the US West Coast (up $626 per FEU) compared to the East Coast (up $500 per FEU).
READ: Spot rates surge across Far East trade lanes
The greater exposure of the US West Coast to US-China geopolitical developments underpins this trend.
Comprehensive spot rate and offered capacity data are available in the accompanying reports Xeneta – Weekly Market Update 7.11.25 and Xeneta – Weekly Market Update Chart 7.11.25.
Peter Sand, Xeneta Chief Analyst, said: “If you want to understand the dynamics in ocean container shipping right now – just look at the relationship between offered capacity and freight rates on the major fronthaul trades.
“Offered capacity is down across all major fronthauls compared to a month ago, despite increases on some trades in the past week. Clearly, carriers are managing capacity very carefully at an important time of year ahead of 2026 contract tenders, and this has contributed to average spot rates increasing again on 1 November after an earlier uptick in mid-October.”
For more information
Xeneta – https://www.xeneta.com/
