Drewry World Container Index – 05 December 2024
The Drewry World Container Index, a composite of container freight rates on eight major routes to/from the US, Europe and Asia, increased 6% to $3,533 per feu this week.
- The Drewry WCI composite index increased 6% to $3,533 per feu, which is 66% below the previous pandemic peak of $10,377 in September 2021 but 149% more than the average $1,420 in 2019 (pre-pandemic).
- The average YTD composite index is $3,958 per feu, which is $1,104 higher than the 10-year average of $2,854 (inflated by the exceptional 2020-22 Covid period).
- Freight rates from Shanghai to Genoa surged 22% or $1006 to $5,496 per feu and those from Shanghai to Rotterdam spiked 19% or $778 to $4,775 per feu. Likewise, rates from New York to Rotterdam inched up 2% or $18 to $807 per feu while those from Shanghai to Los Angeles decreased 12% or $531 to $3,719 per feu. Similarly, rates from Rotterdam to Shanghai and Rotterdam to New York reduced 1% to $514 and $2,649 per feu, respectively whereas those from Los Angeles to Shanghai and Shanghai to New York remained stable. Drewry expects an increase in rates on the Transpacific trade in the coming week due to the looming ILA port strike in January 2025 and the anticipated rush to ship goods before the strike begins.
- Note: Due to the highly volatile market, Drewry revised the methodology of WCI in Week 20, 2021 by changing the criteria for ‘data outliers’ (data excluded from ‘average rate index’ calculation). We will reject data points only if they are 30% higher or lower than median instead of 20% higher or lower previously.
If you need spot market container freight rate information on other routes than those mentioned above, you can find them in our Container Freight Rate Insight (CFRI) online service, which covers over 790 global port pairs (updated monthly).
For information on Drewry’s extensive ocean freight cost benchmarks for both spot rates and contract rates, visit https://www.drewry.co.uk/supply-chain-advisors/supply-chain-expertise/ocean-freight-cost-benchmarks
