The World Container Index assessed by Drewry, a composite of container freight rates on 8 major routes to/from the US, Europe and Asia, is up by 5% to $1539.16/40ft container [updated Thurs, 01 Feb 18].
Two-year spot freight rate trend for the World Container Index:
The composite index is up by 5% this week and down by 13.9% from the same period of 2017.
The average composite index of the WCI, assessed by Drewry for year-to-date, is US $1,453/40ft container, which is $122 lower than the five-year average of $1,575/40ft container.
The Composite Index jumped by $73 to $1,539 per feu this week on the back of the final round of GRIs before the Chinese New Year holidays. The rates on Shanghai-New York increased by $61 per feu to reach $2,944. Similarly, the rates on Shanghai-Los Angeles surged to $1,565 per feu this week – a change of $120 from last week. Rates on the Asia-Europe route also strengthened this week; Shanghai-Genoa gathered $107 to reach $1,634, and Shanghai-Rotterdam gained $95 to reach $1,813 for a 40ft box. We expect the freight market to be buoyant until mid-February on the back of the pre-CNY volumes.
