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Analysis for people who price freight.

Guides to how ocean freight is actually priced — surcharges, contracts, capacity and congestion — alongside analysis of what the market is doing right now. Written by the desk that maintains the benchmarks.

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Freight Pulse lands every Tuesday at 07:00 CET: what moved on your lanes, which ports are tightening, and what it means for the quotes on your desk.

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Featured analysis

Methodology · · 9 min read

How to read a container freight rate index (and where it misleads you)

An index is an average of other people’s deals, not a quote for yours. A practical guide to what a freight benchmark measures, the four questions to ask before you trust one, and the situations where the number will be wrong for your cargo. Read analysis

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Container shipping surcharges explained: BAF, CAF, PSS, THC and the rest Base ocean freight is rarely half the invoice. Every major surcharge on a container shipment, what triggers it, who is allowed to charge it, and which ones you can reasonably challenge. Guides · 11 min FCL vs LCL: how to work out which is actually cheaper The usual rule of thumb — switch at 15 cubic metres — is wrong more often than it is right. A method for comparing full-container and groupage properly, including the costs that only appear on one side. Guides · 8 min How to see port congestion coming three weeks early Berth waiting time tells you a port is already congested. Three leading indicators — schedule reliability drift, yard density and inland dwell — tell you it is about to be. Ports · 9 min Ocean freight contract negotiation: the clauses that matter more than the rate A good rate with no capacity commitment is worth less than a fair rate you can actually use. What to negotiate in an annual ocean contract, in the order it deserves your attention. Contracts · 10 min Asia–Europe container rates: what actually sets the floor The headline number moves on capacity, but the floor is set by something slower: operating cost per slot, and how long carriers are willing to sail below it. Analysis · 9 min Blank sailings explained: how carriers manage capacity, and how to plan around them A cancelled sailing is a pricing instrument as much as an operational decision. How blanking programmes work, why they are announced late, and how to build slack into a booking plan. Capacity · 8 min EU ETS and FuelEU surcharges: how to audit what your carrier charges Carbon surcharges on identical lanes now differ by a factor of four. The arithmetic behind an ETS charge, what a defensible figure looks like, and the questions that get you a breakdown. Regulation · 10 min Reefer container rates: why perishable freight prices on a different clock Reefer capacity is finite, seasonal and directional in a way dry capacity is not. What drives the premium, when to fix, and why the dry-box index will not help you. Commodities · 8 min Cape of Good Hope routing: the real cost, eighteen months on Longer transits have been absorbed into schedules and priced into rates. A breakdown of where the extra cost actually landed — and which of it would come back out. Analysis · 9 min

Every article is written by the SeaFreightPrices market desk and reviewed against the published methodology. Figures used as illustrations are labelled as such.

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