Container rates down for fourth straight week

Drewry’s World Container Index (WCI) dropped to US$5,428 per 40-ft container for the week of Aug. 12-16, the fourth consecutive week rates decreased.

The latest WCI composite index of US$5,428 per 40-ft container is a two per cent drop from the previous week, and is 48 per cent below the previous pandemic peak of US$10,377 in September 2021, but it is 282 per cent more than the average 2019 (pre-pandemic) rate of US$1,420.

The average composite index for the year-to-date is US$4,039 per 40-ft container, which is US$1,242 higher than the 10-year average rate of US$2,798, which was inflated by the exceptional 2020-22 COVID-19 period.

Freight rates from Shanghai to Los Angeles decreased three per cent or to US$6,303 per 40-ft container. Rates from Shanghai to New York dropped two per cent to US$8,764 per feu. Likewise, rates from New York to Rotterdam fell one per cent to US$762 per 40-ft box. Meanwhile, rates from Rotterdam to Shanghai, Los Angeles to Shanghai and Rotterdam to New York remain stable.

Drewry believes that spot rates have peaked, but continued shipping disruptions will keep a floor under the spot rates for some time.