In the week from 19 to 26 June 2025, average spot rates for container shipping between China and the United States once again showed a significant double-digit drop, according to the World Container Index published by Drewry on 26 June. The main route, from Shanghai to Los Angeles, recorded the steepest decline: down 20 per cent, bringing the average rate for a 40-foot container to 3,741 dollars, compared to 4,702 dollars the previous week and 5,914 dollars the week before that. The drop in rates between Shanghai and New York was less sharp but still notable: down 13 per cent to 5,703 dollars per feu, from 7,285 dollars in the update released on 12 June. In the opposite direction, from Los Angeles to Shanghai, the rate remained stable at 717 dollars, compared to 718 dollars the previous week.
Between China and Europe, Drewry recorded a modest increase of one per cent on both the Shanghai-Genoa and Shanghai-Rotterdam routes. In the former, the rate rose to 4,100 dollars per feu and in the latter to 3,204 dollars. Transatlantic spot rates remained stable. The rate from Rotterdam to New York held steady at 1,982 dollars per feu, while the reverse direction slipped slightly from 833 to 826 dollars per feu.
In its Container Forecaster, Drewry predicts a further weakening in the balance between supply and demand during the second half of 2025, resulting in a decline in spot rates. The volatility and timing of rate changes will depend on the outcome of legal challenges to Trump-era tariffs and on capacity shifts linked to the introduction of US sanctions on Chinese vessels, the impact of which remains uncertain.
