Global container shipping rates are holding near multi-month highs even as underlying freight demand softens, with carriers using blank sailings to keep capacity tight on the world's busiest trade lanes.
The Drewry World Container Index stood at $4,476 per 40-foot container for the week ending Sept. 10, flat for a second straight week but well above levels from earlier in the summer. Individual lanes moved in opposite directions: Shanghai-to-Los Angeles climbed 2% to $7,352 per container and Shanghai-to-New York rose 1% to $9,726, while Shanghai-to-Rotterdam eased 2% to $3,997 and Shanghai-to-Genoa slipped 3% to $4,216, according to Drewry's weekly reading.
The divergence traces back to how carriers are managing capacity on each side of the world. On the transpacific, eight blank sailings — canceled voyages that remove capacity from the market — were announced for the coming week, up from seven, keeping upward pressure on US-bound rates even as demand cools. On the Asia-to-Europe route, carriers announced three blank sailings, up from one, but that was outweighed by easing congestion at Shanghai's port, where average waiting times fell to 64 hours from 94, and by the selective return of vessels to Suez Canal routings — both pushing westbound rates lower.
Older disruptions still in the mix
Longer-running disruptions continue to complicate planning. Continued attacks on shipping near the Strait of Hormuz have kept some vessels rerouting around the Middle East, and Panama Canal transit restrictions remain in place even after a planned draft reduction was postponed. Rates had fallen earlier in the summer as Red Sea routes partially reopened, before climbing again through August and into September as typhoon-driven port congestion in Asia and tighter carrier capacity management reasserted themselves.
Carriers have also pushed through a round of general rate increases this month and are preparing another for mid-September, on top of the blank-sailing adjustments, according to freight-forwarder market updates. Drewry's analysts said they expect rates to hold roughly steady into next week barring a new shock, while advising shippers to book early given the volatility in blank-sailing schedules. For importers already contending with tariff-driven cost increases on goods from China and elsewhere, the message from ocean carriers is that near-term relief on freight costs is unlikely.
