Drewry WCI rises as industry anticipates ILA strike, policy changes

LONDON : The Drewry World Container Index (WCI) composite index increased by 2.68 per cent to $3,905 per 40-foot equivalent unit (FEU) on January 5, 2025, up from $3,803 per FEU. Shipping freight charges surged ahead of the proposed ILA strike in January 2025. Freight charges were also influenced by the incoming Trump Administration, which may take steps that could disrupt the current market scenario of global shipping activities.

The index was 62 per cent below the previous pandemic peak of $10,377 in September 2021 but 175 per cent more than the average $1,420 in 2019 (pre-pandemic).

The average year-to-date composite index is $3,905 per 40ft container, $1,040 higher than the 10-year average of $2,865 (inflated by the exceptional 2020-22 COVID period).

Freight rates from Shanghai to Los Angeles increased by 7 per cent, or $330, to $4,829 per 40ft container. Similarly, rates from Shanghai to New York rose by 6 per cent, or $371, to $6,445 per 40ft container. Likewise, rates from Rotterdam to Shanghai and New York to Rotterdam increased by 2 per cent to $516 and $838 per 40ft container, respectively.

Conversely, rates from Shanghai to Rotterdam decreased by 1 per cent, or $45, to $4,774 per 40ft container. Meanwhile, rates from Shanghai to Genoa, Los Angeles to Shanghai, and Rotterdam to New York remained stable.

Drewry expects rates on the Transpacific trade to rise in the coming week, driven by front-loading ahead of the looming ILA port strike in January 2025 and the anticipated tariff hikes under the incoming Trump Administration.