Container Freight Rates Drop 2% as Asian Port Congestion Persists

The Drewry World Container Index fell 2% to $4,351 per 40-foot container, marking its second consecutive weekly drop, yet remaining 164% higher than its level a year ago. The decline across the Transpacific, Transatlantic, and Asia-Europe routes resulted from weak demand during China's "Golden Week" holiday.

Freight rates on the Shanghai to Los Angeles route fell 3% to $7,624, Shanghai to New York dropped 2% to $10,220, and Shanghai to Rotterdam decreased 2% to $3,337, while the Shanghai to Genoa route remained stable at $3,696. Drewry's Intra-Asia index slipped 1% following six consecutive weekly gains.

The ports of Shanghai and Ningbo remained the largest congestion hotspots, with 136 ships waiting and approximately 860,000 TEUs stranded, while vessel queues stayed high in Singapore, Qingdao, and Port Klang. Schedule reliability in Asia fell to 32.3%, reflecting ongoing operational pressure on Asian carriers.

The Drewry report expects rates to remain relatively stable as factories resume production and booking momentum increases, while the accelerated return of services via the Suez Canal adds extra capacity to the Asia-Europe route, posing the key risk to rates in the coming weeks.

What do these terms mean?

Drewry Composite Index: A weekly index measuring the average shipping rates of a standard container on major global shipping routes, published by maritime research firm Drewry.

Standard Container (TEU): A unit of measurement for port handling volume, abbreviated as TEU, equivalent to a 20-foot container, used to measure container throughput.

Schedule Reliability: The percentage of vessel voyages arriving on schedule at destination ports, used to measure service regularity and carrier efficiency.