A week of stability has emerged from contrasting movements in average spot rates for maritime container transport. The World Container Index published by Drewry on 3 September 2026 stood at 4,465 dollars per 40-foot container, eight dollars below the previous week’s 4,473 dollars: a practically flat global weekly average, resulting from two diverging trends: higher spot rates on Chinese routes to the United States and lower rates on services to Northern Europe and the Mediterranean. Compared with 12 months earlier, the composite index remains 112% higher.
The strongest signal came from the Mediterranean, moving in the opposite direction to the transpacific. The Shanghai-Genoa route lost 10%, or 498 dollars, falling from 4,866 to 4,368 dollars per FEU: the steepest weekly decline in the entire basket. On the Northern Europe corridor, the contraction was less pronounced but still consistent, with Shanghai-Rotterdam down 5%, or 195 dollars, from 4,287 to 4,092 dollars. The return leg from Rotterdam to Shanghai, which operates at values an order of magnitude lower, gained 1%, or six dollars, reaching 594 dollars. Year on year, all three routes remain in positive territory: Shanghai-Genoa is up 65%, Shanghai-Rotterdam 72%, and the return leg to Asia 29%.
Underlying Europe’s weakness is an unfavourable combination of demand and supply. Drewry notes a weakening of demand for capacity alongside a return of vessel space: according to the company’s Container Capacity Insight, blank sailings on the Asia-Europe trade will fall this week to just one, leading to an increase in available space. This underpins the British analysts’ forecast of a further modest decline in spot rates in the coming days.
On the Pacific, the trend is reversed precisely on the capacity front. Six blank sailings have been announced for this week, twice as many as in the previous week, and the contraction in supply has already fed through into freight rates: the Shanghai-Los Angeles route rose by 5%, or 367 dollars, to 7,185 dollars per FEU, while Shanghai-New York recorded a 3% increase, or 254 dollars, closing at 9,587 dollars. It is on routes to the US West Coast that the annual comparison reaches the highest levels in the index, at 185%; the service to New York stands at 161%. In the opposite direction, Los Angeles-Shanghai fell by 3%, or 23 dollars, to 799 dollars, with a limited annual increase of 11%.
The transatlantic picture was decidedly flatter, with the week producing no significant changes. Rotterdam-New York recorded a 1% increase, or 42 dollars, reaching 3,052 dollars per FEU, up 57% year on year, while New York-Rotterdam was unchanged at 0%, moving from 1,126 to 1,122 dollars, with an annual variation of 34%. Alongside the composite index, it was the second route in the basket to close the week without any percentage change.
For this week, Drewry points to substantial resilience in the index, supported by demand resilience and carriers’ capacity management. One factor that could influence the supply-demand equation is the return of vessels to the Suez Canal: ocean carriers are reactivating transits, with additional capacity expected as services move back to the historic route. The diversion around Africa on the outbound leg carries heavy cost penalties and longer delivery times, placing carriers that continue to use it at a competitive disadvantage.
External risk factors remain on the table. In the Middle East, geopolitical exposure has not eased, and repeated attacks on cargo ships continue to fuel disruption in the Strait of Hormuz. In China, ports are operating under congested conditions, worsened by the impact of Typhoon Saudel on a situation already affected by other recent weather events. Meanwhile, drought affecting the Panama Canal is keeping passage restrictions at 34 daily transits in the first half of September, potentially falling to 32 in the second half of the month, with capacity reserved for Neo-Panamax vessels capped at a maximum of nine slots a day.
M.G.
