Drewry: World Container Index Up 2% Last Week in International Shipping News 21/03/2026 For many years, World Container Index (WCI) has been the go-to, independent, global reference for index-linked contracts. If your organisation is considering index-linked contracts or requires regional visibility/coverage beyond the eight trade lanes provided below, contact our ocean freight cost benchmarking team. Drewry’s World Container Index increased 2% to $2,172 per 40ft container this week. Source: Drewry World Container Index, Drewry Supply Chain Advisors Our detailed assessment for Thursday, 19 March 2026 The Drewry World Container Index (WCI) rose 2% to $2,172 per 40ft container, the third consecutive week of uptrend, driven by higher rates on the Transpacific trade route. Rates on Asia–Europe trades have remained relatively stable despite ongoing tensions in the Middle East. Spot rates on Shanghai–Rotterdam inched up 1% to $2,478 per 40ft container, while Shanghai–Genoa stayed unchanged at $3,108 per 40ft container. As per Drewry’s Container Capacity Insight, only 3 blank sailings have been announced on the Asia–Europe trade route for next week, indicating steady capacity. At the same time, carriers such as MSC and CMA CGM have announced higher FAK rates, ranging from $6,200 to $6,400, effective 22 March. With carriers continuing to push rates, Drewry expects spot rates to rise further in the coming weeks. On the Transpacific route, rates from Shanghai to New York jumped 7% to $3,310 per 40ft container, while those from Shanghai to Los Angeles increased 4% to $2,591 per 40ft container. According to Drewry’s Container Capacity Insight, 6 blank sailings have been announced for the next week on the Transpacific East and West Coast trade routes. As the situation in the Middle East continues to create uncertainty across global supply chains, supporting higher rates in the short term, Drewry expects spot rates on this trade to increase in the coming weeks. US and Israeli strikes on Iran have disrupted tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz—a key route for nearly 20% of global oil—pushing crude prices higher and raising supply concerns. Rising costs have led carriers to introduce emergency fuel surcharges: CMA CGM raised its surcharge from $150/teu to $265/teu effective 16 March, while OOCL, COSCO and Maersk have also implemented temporary EBS (Emergency Bunker Surcharges). These measures are expected to drive freight costs up which would in turn increase freight rates. Ocean spot market freight rates against 6,700 global port pairs If you need spot market container freight rate information on other routes to those above, find out more about our Container Freight Rate Insight (CFRI) online service, which covers 6,700 global port pairs updated monthly (2,450 updated fortnightly). Source: Drewry 2026-03-21 hellenicshippingnews... window.___gcfg = {lang: 'en-US'}; (function(w, d, s) { function go(){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], load = function(url, id) { if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.src = url; js.id = id; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }; load('//connect.facebook.net/en/all.js#xfbml=1', 'fbjssdk'); load('https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js', 'gplus1js'); load('//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js', 'tweetjs'); } if (w.addEventListener) { w.addEventListener("load", go, false); } else if (w.attachEvent) { w.attachEvent("onload",go); } }(window, document, 'script')); tweet Share