Container rates up over 300 per cent from pre-pandemic average

The composite index inched up one per cent to US$5,937 per 40-ft container this week and has increased 286 per cent when compared with the same week last year.

The latest Drewry World Container Index (WCI) composite index of US$5,937 per 40-ft container is 43 per cent below the previous pandemic peak of $10,377 in September 2021, but remains 318 per cent higher than average 2019 (pre-pandemic) rates of US$1,420.

The average composite index for the year-to-date is US$3,820 per 40-ft container, which is US$1,049 higher than the 10-year average rate of US$2,770 (inflated by the exceptional 2020-22 COVID-19 period).

Freight rates from New York to Rotterdam increased four per cent or US$28 to US$710 per FEU. Similarly, rates from Shanghai to New York spiked two per cent or US$225 to US$9,612 per 40-ft container.

Conversely, rates from Shanghai to Los Angeles fell three per cent or US$224 to US$7,288 per 40-ft box. Rates from Rotterdam to New York also dropped one per cent or US$12 to US$1,943 per 40-ft container. Meanwhile, rates from Rotterdam to Shanghai and Los Angeles to Shanghai remain stable.