DREWRY’S World Container Index inched up 1% this past week to US$5901 per 40-foot container.
It follows a sharp incline that began in early May.
The composite index has increased 297% when compared with the same week last year. It is 43% below the previous pandemic peak of US$10,377 in September 2021, but it is 315% more than average 2019 (pre-pandemic) rates of US$1420.
The average composite index for the year-to-date is US$3744 per 40-foot container, which is US$981 higher than the 10-year average rate of US$2763 (which was inflated by the exceptional 2020-22 covid period).
Freight rates from New York to Rotterdam surged 4% or US$26 to US$682 per 40-foot container.
Similarly, rates from Shanghai to New York rose 3% or US$229 to US$9387 per 40-foot box.
Likewise, rates from Shanghai to Genoa and Shanghai to Los Angeles increased 1% to US$7614 and US$7512 per FEU.
Conversely, rates from Rotterdam to Shanghai decreased 2% or US$12 to US$631 per 40-foot box.
Rates from Rotterdam to New York dropped 1% or US$22 to US$1955 per FEU.
Meanwhile, rates from Shanghai to Rotterdam and Los Angeles to Shanghai remain stable.
Drewry expects freight rates to remain high until the end of the peak season.
