Global shipping container rates remained stable this week. Stronger prices on Transpacific routes helped balance out declines on Asia-Europe routes, according to Drewry.
The Drewry World Container Index (WCI) stayed the same at $4,465 per 40-foot container for the week ending September 3. The major east-west trades showed mixed results.
Rates on the Transpacific route saw an increase, with spot rates from Shanghai to Los Angeles rising by 5% to $7,185 per 40-foot container. Rates from Shanghai to New York went up by 3% to $9,587.
Drewry anticipates that rates in this trade will remain generally stable next week as shipping companies manage their capacity. Six blank sailings have been scheduled for next week, which is double the number from this week, while cargo demand continues to be strong.
On the Asia-Europe routes, the situation is not as strong. Rates from Shanghai to Genoa dropped by 10% to $4,368 per 40-foot container, and rates from Shanghai to Rotterdam fell by 5% to $4,092. Drewry expects more modest declines next week as demand weakens and carriers increase their capacity. The number of blank sailings in this trade is expected to decrease from four this week to just one next week.
These varying trends in rates come at a time when container shipping is going through changes in capacity and routing.
Shipping companies are increasing their journeys through the Suez Canal, with more capacity expected to return as services shift away from the longer route around the Cape of Good Hope. This Cape route has much higher fuel and operating costs and adds extra days to voyages, putting those services at a competitive disadvantage.
Meanwhile, geopolitical risks in the Middle East are high, as ongoing attacks on commercial shipping are causing additional disruptions near the Strait of Hormuz.
Weather issues are also affecting Asia. Chinese ports are currently facing constraints after Typhoon Saudel hit the country, worsening congestion that followed a series of recent storms.
Conditions at the Panama Canal are also creating capacity issues. Restrictions due to drought are limiting the canal to 34 daily transits in early September, reducing to 32 later in the month, with Neopanamax capacity capped at nine reservation slots per day.
As of now, these competing factors have left Drewry's global benchmark mostly unchanged, even as individual trade lanes experience significant shifts in their rates.