The Iran conflict sent Asia-US shipping rates soaring thousands of miles away. Here’s why.
Spot rates on the benchmark trans-Pacific ocean shipping trade have increased by double-digits in just the past month, as the conflict in the Middle East drives downstream effects to the other side of the globe.
“On U.S.-bound trades from the Far East, freight rates are still elevated from one month ago as disruption in the Middle East continues to have a cascading effect through Southeast Asian transshipment hubs,” said analyst Peter Sand of shipping platform Xeneta, in an update. “Shippers moving cargo to the U.S. via these hubs are paying the price for bottlenecks created thousands of miles away.”