Suez capacity returns just as Golden Week takes demand out
The two forces on Asia–Europe are pulling the same way. Canal transits keep climbing while the holiday removes cargo for a fortnight, and on the North Europe leg the blanking programme is not holding the line.
Index levels assessed 24 September 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 | $4,468 | −1% |
| Shanghai – Rotterdam | $3,485 | −4% |
| Shanghai – Genoa | $3,835 | −5% |
| Shanghai – Los Angeles | $7,838 | +2% |
| Shanghai – New York | $10,373 | flat |
What moved, and why
- The composite fell 1% to $4,468 per 40ft, reversing the previous week's rise. Asia–Europe led it down: Shanghai–Rotterdam off 4%, Shanghai–Genoa off 5%.
- Suez containership transits rose to 48 in week 38 from 41 the week before. Drewry expects that returning capacity to outweigh the blanking programme on Asia–Europe, and rates to keep falling.
- Gemini restored four more loops — AE5, AE11, AE12 and ME2 — on 14 September, with the 19,000 TEU Marchen Maersk first onto the rebuilt AE5 on the 21st. Evergreen, ONE, HMM and Yang Ming had not returned as of 25 September.
- Transpacific is the exception, still firm. Carriers announced 15 transpacific blank sailings for the coming week against nine the week before, and seven on Asia–Europe against three.
- Mid-Autumn Festival ran 25–27 September, Golden Week runs 1–7 October, and there are three working days between them. Roughly 13% of planned October capacity on Asia to US and Europe has been blanked so far, below the 18% and 21% withdrawn at the same point last year.
- Worth an hour of someone's time: the US Federal Maritime Commission has confirmed there is no three-year limitation period on complaints about detention and demurrage charges assessed on or after 16 June 2022. Invoices you wrote off may be back in scope.
- Still grinding in the background — German labour disruption and low water on the Rhine in Europe, constrained transit capacity at Panama on the Atlantic side.
What it meant for a quote
Two things to act on. If you are quoting Asia–North Europe into November, the direction of travel is against you holding a rate for long — returning canal capacity is a slower and more durable force than a blanking programme, and it is only part-way through. And get someone to pull your detention and demurrage invoices back to June 2022 before the carriers work out what the FMC decision means for their exposure.
Sources
- Drewry World Container Index, assessment for 24 September 2026, and Drewry Container Capacity Insight.
- gCaptain, 16 and 24 September 2026, on Suez transits and carrier service restorations.
- gCaptain, 22 September 2026, on the Federal Maritime Commission limitation period.
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.