Container rates down three per cent

Drewry’s World Container Index (WCI) decreased three per cent to US$5,181 per 40-ft container for the week of Aug. 26-30, the fifth week in a row rates have declined.

The latest Drewry WCI composite index is 50 per cent below the previous pandemic peak of US$10,377 in September 2021, but it is 265 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$4,108 per 40-ft container, which is US$1,299 higher than the 10-year average rate of US$2,809, which was inflated by the exceptional 2020-22 COVID-19 period.

Freight rates from Shanghai to Rotterdam and Genoa decreased three per cent to US$7,204 and US$6,611 per 40-ft container, respectively. Rates from Shanghai to Los Angeles, Shanghai to New York and New York to Rotterdam decreased two per cent to US$6,248, US$8,591 and US$743 per 40-ft box, respectively. Similarly, spot rates from Rotterdam to Shanghai and New York decreased by one per cent to US$622 and US$1,908 per 40ft container, respectively.

Meanwhile, rates from Los Angeles to Shanghai remain stable. Despite the looming threat of an International Longshoreman’s Association port strike, transpacific eastbound freight rates have seen a slight dip this week. Drewry expects east-west rates to remain stable in the upcoming weeks.