Container rates up for the first time since July

Drewry’s World Container Index (WCI) increased for the first time since early July, ticking up four per cent to US$3,213 per 40-ft container for the week of Oct. 28 to Nov. 1.

The WCI composite index is 69 per cent below the previous pandemic peak of US$10,377 in September 2021 but 126 per cent more than the average 2019, pre-pandemic of US$1,420.

The average year-to-date composite index is US$4,017 per feu, which is US$1,178 higher than the 10-year average of US$2,839, which is inflated by the 2020-22 COVID-19 period.

Freight rates from Shanghai to Genoa shot up 11 per cent or to US$3,648 per feu and those from Shanghai to Rotterdam increased eight per cent to US$3,396. Rates from Shanghai to Los Angeles and Los Angeles to Shanghai also increased one per cent to US$4,839 and US$718 per feu respectively.

Rates from Rotterdam to Shanghai decreased one per cent to US$543, while rates from Shanghai to New York, New York to Rotterdam and Rotterdam to New York remained stable.

After a decline since August, spot rates, with the exception of China, increased this week, and Drewry expects this trend to continue as the Christmas rush intensifies.