Container Rates Snap 17-Week Losing Streak as Carriers Push Rate Increases

The Drewry World Container Index increased 2% to $1,687 per 40ft container this week, marking the first increase following 17 consecutive weeks of decline.

Spot rates from Shanghai to Los Angeles increased 1% to $2,195 per 40ft container and those to New York rose 1%, reaching $3,236. According to Drewry’s assessment, further rate hikes are expected next week, driven by General Rate Increases (GRIs) that carriers implemented yesterday. However, this momentum is expected to be short-lived, with rates likely to decline soon. Carriers could follow up with new GRI attempts on November 1 and November 15 to counteract this drop, if it happens.

Spot rates on the Asia–Europe route showed modest increases this week. The rate from Shanghai to Rotterdam jumped 6% to $1,669 per 40ft container and from Shanghai to Genoa rose 2% to $1,821. These increases follow an industry-wide effort by carriers that introduced new Freight All Kinds (FAK) rates effective October 15 to stop the market’s post-Golden Week rate slump.

Drewry’s Container Forecaster expects the supply-demand balance to weaken in the next few quarters, which will cause spot rates to contract.

Subscribe for Daily Maritime Insights

Sign up for gCaptain’s newsletter and never miss an update

— trusted by our 107,075 members