23.05.01WCI Falls Again in Week 17

Drewry Maritime Research's composite World Container Index (WCI) decreased 2% from the previous week to $1,740.26 per FEU in Week 17, which has dropped 78% when compared with the same week of last year.　The latest WCI was 83% below the peak of $10,377 per FEU reached in September 2021. It was 35% lower than the 10-year average of $2,688 per FEU, indicating a return to more normal prices, but remained 23% higher than the pre-pandemic average rate of $1,420 per FEU in 2019.The year-to-date average was $1,890 per FEU, $797 lower than the abovementioned 10-year average.

Freight rates from Rotterdam to Shanghai and from New York to Rotterdam fell 4% to $596 and $926 per FEU, respectively. Rates from Shanghai to Genoa slid 3% or $75 to settle at $2,193 per FEU. Similarly, rates from Shanghai to Los Angeles and to New York contracted 2% to $1,820 per FEU and $2,780 per FEU, respectively. Rates from Rotterdam to New York dropped 2% to $4,806 per FEU. Rates from Shanghai to Rotterdam had a meager drop of 1% to $1,592 per FEU. However, rates from Los Angeles to Shanghai inched up by 1% to $1,017 per FEU. Drewry expects east-west spot rates on routes other than the trans-Atlantic to rise in the next few weeks.