This year's peak shipping season arrived earlier than usual. The demand for supplies in advance for the FIFA 2026 World Cup, coupled with geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East, has pushed global shipping to full capacity.
The most noticeable change is the booking lead time – which has increased from two weeks to five weeks. The situation is even more pronounced on the two major trans-Pacific and Asia-Europe routes, requiring bookings five to six weeks in advance to secure a seat. FAK contracts were already fully booked two to three weeks prior, meaning spot freight rates still have room to rise further.
Prices for the second half of June (including EBS and ETS) continued to rise, and the PSS surcharge was also higher than in the first half of the month. Industry experts predict further price increases in July.
Why is shipping capacity so tight? The Cape of Good Hope circumnavigation has absorbed all the new capacity delivered in the past two years. Blank sailings and port congestion have further reduced available capacity, and the shortage of container equipment has not been alleviated. On the other side of the Panama Canal, the draft restrictions of the Neopanamax locks have tightened again, limiting the transoceanic passage's capacity.
For cross-border e-commerce sellers, the current strategy is simple: book shipping as early as possible. Waiting until the last minute will likely result in missing out on space, and even if you do, you'll have to pay a higher premium. For real-time freight rates and surcharge details for various routes:
- Shipping cost inquiry: https://exp.czl.net/fee
- Surcharge inquiry: https://exp.czl.net/surcharges