The World Container Index of global shipping consultancy Drewry is up by 5% to 1195.21$ per FEU. However, an erosion of rates is expected.
The composite of container freight rates on 8 major routes to/from the US, Europe and Asia grew this week, but went down 23% from the same pe[ds_preview]riod of 2016. The average composite index of the WCI for year-to-date, is US $1,461/FEU, which is $131 lower than the five-year average of $1,593/FEU, Drewry states. It is also 23% lower than a year ago.
Rates on the Asia-Europe and Transpacific routes have increased this week on the back of the mid-December GRIs. On the Shanghai-Rotterdam route, the index is said to have gained $118 from last week, to reach $1,494 for a 40ft box. Similarly, rates on Shanghai-Los Angeles are up by $77 to reach $1,154 per feu. »We expect these gains to erode in the coming weeks until the pre-Chinese New Year demand spike in January lifts rates«, Drewry says.
