As spot rates on the Asia-Europe and Asia-US trades have started to rise, the World Container Index (WCI) is up by 1.4 % to 1,466 $ per 40ft container. Rates are expected to strengthen on the Asia-Europe and Transpacific routes.
The World Container Index assessed by Drewry, a com[ds_preview]posite of container freight rates on eight major routes to/from the US, Europe and Asia, is up by 1.4 % to 1,466.36 $ per 40ft container. The index is also up by 18% from the same period of 2016.
The average composite index of the WCI, assessed by Drewry for year-to-date, is US 1,575 $ per 40ft container, which is 121 $ lower than the five-year average of 1,696 $ per 40ft container. It is also 18% higher than a year ago.
The spot rates on the Asia-Europe trade started to rise, resulting in the WCI on Shanghai to Rotterdam gaining 2 % or 42 $ to 1,801 $ for a 40ft box. Similarly, the rates on Shanghai-Los Angeles increased by 3 % to $1,293, but the rates on Shanghai-New York declined by 1%.
»Since more carriers will implement rate hikes during the later part of this week, we expect rates to strengthen on the Asia-Europe and Transpacific routes,« Drewry said.
