Haitong Futures: Caution in Pricing for New European Contract Listing Maersk's March early quote remains the same and has not followed the upward trend

In terms of spot freight rates, Maersk announced its first-week March opening rates with large containers at $1,900 and high containers at $2,000, unchanged from the end of February, essentially indicating that the shipping companies’ earlier announced March price hikes failed to materialize. Maersk continues to adopt a relatively pragmatic pricing strategy, and it is expected that other carriers/alliances will mainly follow suit in the near future. If freight volumes further weaken after the holiday, there is room for further spot rate adjustments, and the overall trend may be similar to that of the same period in 2025. This week is the last trading week before the Spring Festival, with new contracts listed and trading remaining subdued. Most conflicts still center around the 2604 contract. Future observations will focus on the follow-up pricing strategies of other carriers for March and changes in fundamentals, including the recovery of freight volumes after the holiday and whether there are any passive blank sailings caused by previous port congestion disruptions. The market overall remains volatile, and the March baseline set by Maersk is expected to slightly drag the oscillation center during this period. (Haitong Futures)