Rate structure and methodology

In ocean freight, rates are negotiated prices for shipping a container from one part of the world to another that depend on multiple different factors.

Rates and contract length

Freight rates are usually tied to contracts that have a validity period that depends on the contract length. Xeneta collects and aggregates these rates separately — as short-term (less than 32 days) and long-term (more than 87 days) rates.

Rates and trade lanes

Freight rates are tied to specific trade lanes, or routes from an origin port to a destination port on which the freight is shipped.

Due to the complexity of port to port shipping logistics, a freight rate will sometimes include multiple smaller ports as part of a larger route. The costs of moving cargo between smaller and larger ports are often included in the final freight rate.

Rates and aggregation

A single rate by itself is not a very good indicator of the current state of the freight market.

That's why Xeneta offers insight into the freight rate market by collecting thousands of rates from hundreds of market players, including both shippers (or BCOs) and freight forwarders.

Xeneta anonymizes and aggregates the collected rate data, and then calculates their average values for individual trade lanes to provide you with a more objective view of what the market rates are like on any given trade lane.

Rates and surcharges

Freight rates are typically associated with a number of surcharges — additional fees charged by the parties involved in the logistics chain.

These surcharges include such services as:

Loading and unloading cargo
Processing of cargo documentation
Providing cargo security

All ocean freight rates shown in our platform include the following surcharges:

Bunker Adjustment Factor (BAF)
Currency Adjustment Factor (CAF)
EU Emissions Trading System (ETS)
Canal surcharges
All other relevant surcharges within Xeneta's port-to-port definition

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For more detailed information about included and excluded surcharges, download our surcharges PDF.

Rates and container types

Freight rates differ depending on the type of container used to transport the cargo, with more specialized containers usually costing more.

Xeneta only aggregates rate data that is associated with the six of the most common container types, including 20' dry, 20' reefer, 20' tank, 40' dry, 40' high-cube, and 40' reefer high-cube.

Rates and market positions

Since Xeneta offers aggregated average values that show a high-level view of the ocean freight rates, you can use these values to see how your own rates stack up against the broader market.

Xeneta provides five market positions that help illustrate different rate segments of the market, allowing you to compare your rates against the market average, as well as against the best and worst performers across the entire spread of the market.

Rates and coverage

Xeneta collects rates coming from companies engaged in trade all over the world.

When there's not enough rate data available for a specific origin-destination pair, we use our geo-hierarchy methodology to show you rates between larger geographic regions.

In cases where there's not enough container traffic between a given origin and destination, Xeneta can calculate an estimated rate to provide a close approximation of what an actual rate on that origin-destination pair might be like.