According to the World Container Index update released by Drewry on 30 April 2026, global container shipping rates closed April with a further decline. The composite WCI fell by 1%, to 2,216 dollars per 40ft container. It was the third consecutive weekly fall and confirmed a cooling trend across the main east-west trades. The figure comes at a time when operating costs remain exposed to geopolitical tensions in the Strait of Hormuz and rising fuel prices. However, these factors are not supporting freight rates as they have during other periods of instability. The main reason cited in the report is excess available slot capacity, which is reducing carriers’ pricing power and limiting attempts to secure structural rate increases.
On the Asia-Europe route, the signal remains weak. Rates from Shanghai to Genoa fell by 1%, to 3,039 dollars per FEU. Shanghai-Rotterdam also recorded a 1% decline, with a rate of 2,127 dollars per FEU. The year-on-year comparison, however, shows an uneven trend: Genoa remains 5% higher, while Rotterdam is 3% below the level recorded in the same period a year earlier. Carriers are responding through capacity management. Effective capacity is expected to be cut in May by 3% to Northern Europe and by 10% to the Mediterranean, through already scheduled blanked sailings. The move is designed to ease competitive pressure at a time when demand is not fully absorbing available supply. Drewry expects possible stabilisation in the first week of May, precisely as a result of the capacity cuts.
The transpacific trade is showing a different pattern. Rates from Shanghai to New York fell by 2%, to 3,483 dollars per FEU, about 3,239 euros, while those to Los Angeles remained stable at 2,930 dollars per FEU, about 2,725 euros. Weakness in the spot market, however, is accompanied by the announcement of new additional charges from 1 May 2026. Drewry points in particular to initiatives by MSC and CMA CGM. MSC will raise the emergency fuel surcharge on the Asia-US east coast route to 644 dollars per FEU. CMA CGM, meanwhile, will introduce a peak season surcharge of 2,000 dollars per FEU. These measures could generate a technical rebound in rates the following week, without necessarily signalling a recovery in volumes.
The contrast between falling spot rates and new surcharges is the central feature of the market at the end of April. Carriers appear to be focusing more on defending unit revenue than on responding to accelerating demand. In a market with ample capacity, surcharges can temporarily support applied rates, but they remain exposed to shippers’ ability to postpone shipments, negotiate alternative terms or exploit competition between services. The operating picture also remains shaped by the Strait of Hormuz.
Among the routes monitored, Rotterdam-Shanghai moved in the opposite direction: the rate rose by 1%, to 616 dollars per FEU, with year-on-year growth of 33%. The absolute value remains much lower than on export routes from Asia, but the figure highlights greater variability in return flows and a different balance in trade dynamics. In the medium term, the entry into service of new container ships remains the main constraint on rate increases. Additional available capacity allows shippers to operate in a less strained environment than during periods of severe congestion, while forcing carriers to calibrate blanked sailings, frequencies and surcharges.
