Drewry’s World Container Index, published on 16 July 2026 and tracking average spot freight rates for container shipping, fell by 2% to $4,547 per 40ft container. The decline, equal to $92 from the previous week’s $4,639, marks the first drop after several weeks of increases linked to the seasonal peak, although the index remains 75% higher than in the same period of 2025.
Seven of the nine routes in the basket ended the week lower or unchanged, while only New York-Rotterdam posted an increase. On the Asia-Europe corridor, the decline was the most pronounced: from Shanghai to Genoa, the rate fell by 3%, the largest percentage contraction of the week, from $6,463 to $6,300, with an 83% year-on-year increase. The fall between Shanghai and Rotterdam was more limited, down 1% to $4,873, with a 46% annual increase, while the Rotterdam-Shanghai return route fell to $605, with a more moderate year-on-year rise of 22%. The easing on the corridor was also supported by the decongestion of European ports: at the port of Genoa, average vessel waiting time fell by 33 hours compared with the previous week, according to Drewry’s Container Capacity Insight analysis. Carriers had announced new FAK (Freight All Kinds) rates of between $7,900 and $8,500 per 40ft container on the Asia-Mediterranean route from 15 July, but the increases did not hold over the course of the week; Drewry nevertheless expects rates on the corridor to remain stable over the next seven days.
Trends on transpacific routes were mixed. From Shanghai to Los Angeles, the freight rate fell by 3%, the largest decline in absolute terms across the whole survey, to $6,272, with a year-on-year increase of 123%, the highest among all routes in the basket. Shanghai-New York, by contrast, remained broadly stable at $7,879, up 74% year on year, after a marginal change of just $25, as did the Los Angeles-Shanghai return route, which was unchanged at $825 and recorded the lowest annual growth in the basket, at 15%. According to Drewry, the easing of the rush to bring orders forward ahead of the US tariff deadline has been accompanied by more careful capacity management by carriers: nine blank sailings are scheduled on the transpacific route for next week, on the basis of which the research firm also expects freight rates to remain stable in the coming days.
The picture is reversed on the transatlantic corridor, the only one to show an increase during the week. Rotterdam-New York fell by 2% to $2,667, up 33% year on year, while the opposite direction, New York-Rotterdam, gained 1%, rising to $1,037 from the previous $1,022, with an 18% year-on-year increase. In the background, tensions between the United States and Iran persist, with threats to shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and uncertainty over possible US security fees for transits through the Strait of Hormuz. On the trade front, the US tariffs currently in force are expected to expire on 24 July, while new tariff measures are expected in the first days of August.
M.G.
