Drewry: World Container Index up 2% last week

LONDON: For many years, World Container Index has been the go-to, independent, global reference for index-linked contracts. 

Drewry’s World Container Index increased 2% to $1,687 per 40ft container last week.

Drewry’s detailed assessment for Thursday, 16 Oct 2025

• The Drewry World Container Index (WCI) increased 2% to $1,687 per 40ft container. The index recorded its first increase following 17 consecutive weeks of decline.
• Spot rates from Shanghai to Los Angeles increased 1% to $2,195 per 40ft container and those to New York rose 1%, reaching $3,236. Drewry expects further rate hikes next week, driven by the GRIs that carriers implemented yesterday. However, this momentum is expected to be short-lived, with rates likely to decline soon. Carriers could follow up with new GRI attempts on 1 November and 15 November to counteract this drop, if it happens.
• Spot rates on the Asia–Europe route showed modest increases this week: The rate from Shanghai to Rotterdam jumped 6% to $1,669 per 40ft container and from Shanghai to Genoa rose 2% to $1,821. These increases follow an industry-wide effort by carriers that introduced new Freight All Kinds (FAK) rates effective 15 October to stop the market’s post-Golden Week rate slump.
• Drewry’s Container Forecaster expects the supply-demand balance to weaken in the next few quarters, which will cause spot rates to contract.
  Source: Drewry