Shippers dive for cover as 'extreme freight rates' near $20,000-per-feu mark

The seemingly inexorable rise of container freight rates could see the liner industry net a $100bn profit this year.

Shippers are braced for "extreme freight rates" of up to $20,000 per 40-foot equivalent unit (feu) in the coming weeks with the onset of peak season.

Soaring freight cost

Rates are close to reaching these highs — around 10 times higher than the historical average — on key east-west routes on the transpacific and Asia-Europe trades.