Container freight rates are sliding further, with Drewry’s World Container Index (WCI) dropping 8% this week to $1,761 per feu — the fifteenth consecutive weekly decline. The fall is being felt across key trade lanes, with carriers struggling to hold the line despite capacity cuts.

Spot rates from Shanghai to Los Angeles fell 10% to $2,311 per feu, while Shanghai–New York rates slid 8% to $3,278. On Asia–Europe routes, Shanghai–Rotterdam rates dropped 9% to $1,735 and Shanghai–Genoa slipped 7% to $1,990. Carriers have been pulling capacity in the run-up to China’s Golden Week factory shutdown, but according to Drewry, with demand soft, further rate erosion is expected.

The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) also posted its steepest weekly drop in nearly a decade, down to 1,198.21 points on Thursday and sliding further to 1,114.52 on Friday. For context, the SCFI averaged 1,645 in the second quarter — 37% lower year-on-year. Meanwhile, the China Containerized Freight Index (CCFI) has plunged 19% year-on-year, with transpacific lanes hardest hit: West Coast rates are down 31% and East Coast 23%, according to NH Investment & Securities.

Lars Jensen, who heads up container consultancy Vespucci Maritime, noted that current spot levels are back to — or even below — where they stood before Red Sea diversions at the end of 2023, when carriers were already loss-making.

“By now this is indicative of a quite weak market situation,” Jensen said, highlighting that the seasonal Golden Week lull has not yet fully started, and reminding that Atlantic westbound rates also slid by more than $100 per feu last week, their lowest since early February.

Carriers are beginning to react. Hapag-Lloyd has announced new FAK rates from October 15, setting $1,200 for 20-foot and $2,000 for 40-foot boxes to North Europe, and higher levels into the Mediterranean and Black Sea.

Separately, Ocean Network Express (ONE) warned shippers that US Customs is tightening audits on commodity descriptions from September 27. The move could lead to fines, delays or even cargo seizures if cargo data is not precise.

Adis Ajdin