Lunar year ago, the head of the domestic super large freight forwarder revealed that the new long about price per large box of super large direct customers such as Samsung, LG and Weiming department Store in the United States this year has been signed to $2,500, about 66% higher than the long about price last year. However, due to the Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire after the year and the new progress of the US tariff policy, the market development is not favorable to container ship companies, most long contracts currently have no penalties, there is the possibility of modifying contracts or granting special rates.

Most shippers (including freight forwarders) will expire at the end of April, and the long contract price will generally be based on the price of a large direct passenger visa plus $200 to $300. However, it is expected that in the second half of April, if the withdrawal agreement of the second phase of the Hamas cease-fire is smoothly advanced, and the US tariff policy affects the market volume, the long-term contract price may be lowered, and the long-term contract price signed by large direct customers may also face the situation of revising the contract or granting special rates every quarter.

Some large freight forwarders believe that the Red Sea crisis may be lifted in March this year, coupled with the market outlook is not optimistic, if the first quarter of the market downturn, the second quarter of the shipping company may give a special price, the price may be as low as about $1,800.

In the next two weeks, the shipping company will actively investigate the status of customer orders to provide reference for follow-up negotiations. Meanwhile, the annual US Trans-Pacific Maritime Conference (TPM: 25th TPM) will be held in Long Beach, California from March 2 to 5, which is seen as the starting gun for shipping companies to negotiate new contracts with US line shippers. During the meeting, through networking and negotiation activities, the annual contract price of super large direct customers can be roughly understood, so as to infer the long-term contract price of large direct customers and ordinary direct customers.

The head of another super large freight forwarder predicts that the long price of the US-West route will not exceed $2,000 this year, and large direct customers such as Samsung may eventually sign for a long price of $1700-1800. Shipping companies through the alliance to organize a joint reduction in freight rates to stabilize the market rate is expected to remain above the level of profitability.

At the same time, the global container liner long about price negotiations this year has been started, the market news said that the starting price of large customers per large container has reached $2,500, an increase of more than 60%. The industry expressed surprise at this, because many previously believed that freight rates would fall sharply after the Red Sea crisis was lifted. However, shipping companies worry that signing too many unreasonable long dates will hurt their revenue and profit performance, so they insist on a reasonable price in the long contract negotiations.

There is still some time to go before the Far East-North America route exchange in May, and the global political and economic situation has changed greatly, and the price negotiation war between cargo owners and shipping companies is expected to be very fierce. If contract prices for North American routes are better than they were last year, container liners' earnings transparency will also improve.

However, if the shipping companies are too persistent on contract prices, the proportion of long-term contract prices may be lower this year. At the same time, due to the impact of the lunar New Year cargo volume, the spot freight rate in the next few weeks may continue to revise downward. The shipping industry believes that the performance of global cargo volume in March will be an important key to the operation of this year, and the final price situation of the long-term contract will become clear in March and April.

However, if the shipping companies are too persistent on contract prices, the proportion of long-term contract prices may be lower this year. At the same time, due to the impact of the lunar New Year cargo volume, the spot freight rate in the next few weeks may continue to revise downward. The shipping industry believes that the performance of global cargo volume in March will be an important key to the operation of this year, and the final price situation of the long-term contract will become clear in March and April.