The latest data from the World Container Index for 2024, published on 2 January 2025, confirm that in the final week of the year, average spot freight rates for container shipping remained consistent with the previous week. Stability persisted on routes between China and Europe and on transatlantic routes, while rates on routes between China and the United States increased.
The freight rate for a 40-foot equivalent unit (FEU) from Shanghai to Genoa dropped by $4 in a week, settling at $5,420, while the rate from Shanghai to Rotterdam fell by 1% to $4,774. In the opposite direction, the spot rate between the Dutch and Chinese ports rose by 2%, reaching $516. A similar trend was observed across the Atlantic, where the rate from Rotterdam to New York increased by $7 per FEU to $2,720, and the return rate climbed by $14 to $838.
The picture is entirely different on the trans-Pacific route between China and the United States. The average spot rate from Shanghai to Los Angeles rose by 7% to $4,829 per FEU, while the rate from Shanghai to New York increased by 6% to $6,445. In contrast, the rate from Los Angeles to Shanghai remained stable, inching up by $2 in a week to $728 per FEU.
The surge in container freight rates between China and the United States is influenced by two significant events set to impact the US in January 2025. The first is the inauguration of Donald Trump as president, who has already announced plans to raise tariffs on goods imported from China. The second, still tentative, is a strike threatened by the Teamsters union representing workers at East Coast ports. Additionally, the Chinese New Year, falling on 29 January 2025, will bring festivities (and a corresponding slowdown in production and logistics) from 28 January until the Lantern Festival on 12 February.
These factors are prompting US importers to expedite their orders and shipping requests, driving freight rates higher. Drewry and other analysts predict that container rates between China and the United States will continue to rise throughout January 2025, potentially exacerbating inflation and negatively impacting the US economy.
