November 20th, 2025 – Ocean carriers moving cargo from Asia to North Europe and the Mediterranean are preparing another round of rate increases on December 1st, aiming to extend a pricing upswing that began in October. These freight-all-kinds (FAK) adjustments continue a pattern of biweekly hikes that started on October 1st.
Market analysts note that Asia–Europe and Mediterranean rates have been holding steady, supported by carriers taking a more aggressive approach to blank sailings during the current tender season. The stability in recent weeks appears tied to these intensified blank-sailing campaigns, with carriers pushing to increase rates to the $3,000–$4,000 per FEU range in December.
Beginning December 1st, Mediterranean Shipping Co. and Hapag-Lloyd plan to set their Asia–North Europe FAK rates at $3,200 per FEU. On Asia–Mediterranean routes, CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd will implement FAK levels of $4,000 per FEU, while MSC has set pricing at $3,950 per FEU for shipments to the West Mediterranean and $3,800 per FEU to the East Mediterranean.
Spot Market Momentum
Although carriers have not achieved the full amount of every proposed increase, the steady rollout of new FAK levels has pushed spot pricing upward. Platts data shows that Asia–North Europe spot rates have climbed from $1,300 per FEU on October 1st to $2,300 per FEU this week. Asia–Mediterranean spot pricing has jumped as well, rising from $1,600 to $3,000 per FEU over the same period.
As tendering season for long-term European contracts gets underway, these higher prices are being reinforced by significant capacity reductions through blank sailings. Carriers on Asia–North Europe routes have already announced nearly 110,000 TEUs of blanked capacity for November and 56,000 TEUs for December, according to Xeneta’s eeSea data—figures likely to rise as newly delivered vessels continue to enter the market.
Despite the blanks, deployed capacity remains historically high. Asia–North Europe services are expected to offer 1.12 million TEUs of capacity in December, setting a new record that will be surpassed in January when deployment rises to 1.17 million TEUs. On Asia–Mediterranean routes, carriers plan to blank 100,000 TEUs in November and 40,000 in December, with January already showing 17,000 TEUs of planned blanks. Even so, December’s 842,000 TEUs of deployed capacity will set a record, only to be exceeded in January at 861,000 TEUs.
Whether demand will keep pace with this level of supply—and sustain the rising rates into December—remains uncertain. The latest data from Container Trades Statistics, covering volumes through September, indicates that Asia–Europe demand in the first nine months of the year was up 9.8% compared with the same period last year.
