Xeneta launches freight rate index

Norwegian company aims to transform the way shippers, freight forwarders and carriers conduct negotiations. Xeneta, an ocean freight rate benchmarking and market intelligence platform, has launched a global freight rate index that aims to transform the way shippers, freight forwarders and carriers conduct freight rate negotiations. The new product, dubbed the Xeneta Shipping Index (XSI), provides a real-time overview of the latest ocean freight rates, allowing all parties to set rates at transparent, efficient and fair prices that directly follow market fluctuations, according to the company, which is headquartered in Oslo, Norway. “XSI allows independent, verified and up-to-the-minute rates to be tracked over major shipping routes covering 57 corridors representing 95 percent of global intercontinental volumes, such as Asia-Europe, Europe-Asia, transpacific, transatlantic,” Xenteta CEO Patrik Berglund said. “Freight rates are dynamic and prone to rapid change, so a shipper traditionally negotiating what they consider to be a fair rate for a long-term ocean freight contract can find that, three months later, they’re paying far in excess or below the actual market rates.” For example, the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI), which provides spot rate estimates on 13 different outbound trades from Shanghai, stood at an overall reading of 777.7 this past Friday, a 20 percent increase from 13 weeks prior, when the index had a reading of 646.59. “Similarly for carriers, when the market is low or high, they risk shippers taking their business somewhere else or not living up to their contracts as these are not enforceable,” Berglund said. “The current situation is not ideal for buyer or seller and neither one has the upper hand.”