Container Rates Stall as Capacity Glut Offsets Hormuz Shock

By Gavin van Marle (The Loadstar) – Container spot freight rates on the main east-west trades largely flatlined this week as excess capacity and uneven demand failed to further spur recent pricing increases by carriers.

This week’s World Container Index (WCI) from Drewry showed spot rates on the transpacific and Asia-Europe trades appeared to have largely stabilised after recovering from the shock of conflict in the Middle East.

The WCI’s Shanghai-Rotterdam leg stayed unchanged compared to the week before at $2,543 per 40ft, while rates on the Shanghai-Genoa leg gained 2% week-on-week to end at $3,529 per 40ft, indicating that new carrier