Composite dips as transpacific cools into the September GRI
A quiet week before a loud one. The index gave back a little, blanking eased, and the 1 September increase lands today across seven carriers.
Index levels assessed 27 August 2026. This is the weekly briefing as it was published — it is not updated afterwards. For the current position on your lanes, use the rate explorer.
The week in numbers
| Lane | Level | Week |
|---|---|---|
| Composite | $4,473 | −1% |
| Shanghai – Los Angeles | $6,818 | flat |
| Shanghai – New York | $9,333 | −2% |
What moved, and why
- The composite eased 1% to $4,473 per 40ft, with both transpacific and Asia–Europe softer.
- Shanghai–New York gave back 2% to $9,333 and Shanghai–Los Angeles was unchanged at $6,818, after several weeks of hard gains.
- Blank sailings for the following week dropped to four from seven, meaning capacity was coming back rather than tightening.
- CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, Hapag-Lloyd, HMM, Yang Ming and ZIM all filed for a general rate increase effective today on the East Asia to USA lane.
- Drewry expected a less volatile week ahead, with demand resilient and carriers still managing supply.
What it meant for a quote
A week where capacity was returning and rates were easing, immediately before seven carriers pushed an increase. That combination rarely holds in full. The useful question the following week was not whether the increase was announced but what proportion of it actually reached invoices.
Sources
- Drewry World Container Index, assessment for 27 August 2026, and Drewry Container Capacity Insight.
- Alba, market update for September 2026, on the carriers filing the 1 September increase.
Figures are as published by the named third parties on the dates given. They are not SeaFreightPrices benchmarks; our own methodology is set out on the methodology page.