Drewry's latest World Container Index (WCI) recorded a 4% decline, bringing the average rate to $2,264 per 40ft container. This marks a 78% drop from the pandemic peak of $10,377 in September 2021 and the lowest since January 2024. However, current rates remain 59% higher than the 2019 pre-pandemic average of $1,420.
Year-to-date, the composite index averages $3,127 per 40ft container, surpassing the 10-year average of $2,885, which was influenced by the extraordinary rate fluctuations between 2020 and 2022.
Freight rates saw significant reductions across key trade lanes. Rates from Shanghai to Los Angeles declined by 9% to $2,658 per container, while those from Shanghai to New York fell 7% to $3,774. Shanghai-Rotterdam and Rotterdam-New York routes experienced smaller declines of 2%, settling at $2,463 and $2,316 per container, respectively. Minor 1% reductions were observed on the Rotterdam-Shanghai, New York-Rotterdam, and Shanghai-Genoa routes. In contrast, rates from Los Angeles to Shanghai remained stable.
Drewry expects a slight further decrease in rates in the coming weeks. The firm continues to provide container freight benchmarking through services such as the Container Freight Rate Insight, covering 790 global port pairs, and the Benchmarking Club, offering contract and spot rate comparisons.
More information:
Drewry
www.drewry.co.uk