Spot rates still falling on key container trade lanes

The latest data from Drewry’s World Container Index (WCI) reveals a continued sharp decline in spot rates on major container shipping routes, particularly between Asia and the US West Coast (USWC).

That made interesting news for the U-Freight Group with our strong presence in the global container shipping arena, and we note that industry commentator Lars Jensen, said that Drewry’s WCI spot rates showed continued sharp decline on the Asia US West Coast (USWC) trade with an almost USD1000 per feu weekly drop.

This still means the level is roughly USD1000 pe feu above the spot rate seen just before the US/China tariff pause. It also means that the WCI index is, thus far, seeing less of a decline from the peak rate than what until now has been recorded by the Shanghai Container Freight Index.

Asia–US East Coast rates are also falling, but at a slower pace than the USWC. Despite a drop of around USD1600 per feu over the past two weeks, rates on this route remain USD2000 per feu higher than before the tariff pause.

Meanwhile, the Asia–North Europe spot rate continues a very slow increasing trend over the past four weeks.

In contrast, the Asia-Mediterranean rate has stabilised, at just above USD4000 per feu for the same period.

Drewry’s latest figures confirm this pattern. The composite WCI dropped 9 per cent to USD2,983 per feu last week, with the Shanghai–Los Angeles rate falling by USD961 to USD3,741 and Shanghai–New York dropping by USD881 to USD5,703 per container.

Despite these declines, rates remain well above pre-tariff levels.

This ongoing volatility in container shipping is further compounded by geopolitical and security risks. Recent developments include US diplomatic pressure on China to help prevent Iran from closing the Strait of Hormuz, a key maritime chokepoint, and continued reports of GPS jamming disrupting vessel navigation in the region.

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