Despite peak season cargo surge, spot rates dropped unexpectedly on the Shanghai-Rotterdam route, transpacific eastbound rates also decreased. Prudent supply should lift rates from August.
The World Container Index assessed by Drewry, a composite of container freight rates on ei[ds_preview]ght major routes to/from the US, Europe and Asia, is down this week by 6.3 % to 1,421.4 $ per 40ft container. The index is up by 15% from the same period of 2016.
The average composite index of the WCI, assessed by Drewry for year-to-date, is 1,546 $ per 40ft container, which is 120 $ lower than the five-year average of 1,666 $ per 40ft container. It is also 15 % higher than a year ago.
Despite peak season cargo surge, the spot rates dropped unexpectedly on the Shanghai-Rotterdam route, which fell by 160 $ to 1,705 $ for a 40ft box this week. More rate hikes and prudent supply during the peak season should lift rates from August. On the other hand, a slow start to the peak season is weighing down the Transpacific eastbound rates. The spot rates from Shanghai to New York lost 183 $ to reach 2,202 $ for a 40ft box and the rates from Shanghai to Los Angeles dropped by 71 to 1,242 $.
