Container Rates Diverge: Transpacific Up, Asia–Europe Down

Market data as of week ending 3 September 2026. Rates move weekly. For the current position on your own lanes, use the rate explorer.

Key takeaways

Drewry's World Container Index held flat at $4,465 per 40ft on 3 September, but the flat composite hides a sharp split: transpacific up, Asia–Europe down.
Shanghai–Los Angeles rose 5% to $7,185 and Shanghai–New York 3% to $9,587, while Shanghai–Rotterdam fell 5% to $4,092 and Shanghai–Genoa fell 10% to $4,368.
Typhoon congestion in China is tightening effective capacity on both corridors — supporting transpacific gains, and slowing rather than stopping the Asia–Europe correction.
Asia–Europe is falling from a peak, not into a trough: both legs remain roughly 40% to 70% above pre-peak May levels.

If you looked only at the headline number last week, you would have concluded that nothing happened. Drewry's World Container Index was unchanged at $4,465 per 40ft container on 3 September. Underneath it, two of the world's largest corridors moved firmly in opposite directions, and a forwarder quoting both would have had a very different week depending on which desk they sat at.

This is the clearest case this year for reading corridors rather than composites.

What moved

On the transpacific, Drewry assessed Shanghai to Los Angeles up 5% at $7,185 per 40ft and Shanghai to New York up 3% at $9,587. Freightos data cited by FreightWaves on 2 September pointed the same way with different absolute levels: Asia to US West Coast up 2% at $7,621 per forty-foot unit, and Asia to US East Coast up 2% at $9,791.

On Asia–Europe the direction reversed. Drewry put Shanghai to Rotterdam down 5% at $4,092 and Shanghai to Genoa down 10% at $4,368 — the steepest single-week fall in the set. Freightos framed the same move in cumulative terms: Asia–North Europe more than $1,000 per FEU below its July peak, and the Mediterranean more than $2,000 below.

A third market moved quietly. FreightWaves reported transatlantic rates up around $400 per FEU over two weeks as carriers pulled capacity, with further September increases announced and observers sceptical they will hold in full.

Why they diverged

The transpacific peak arrived early this year, in May, and has stayed firmer than most forecasts allowed for. Freightos analyst Judah Levine pointed to the absence of further tariff increases in July removing one source of disruption to US-bound imports, higher ocean volumes of data-centre hardware, and tariff refunds letting some retailers cut prices — all supporting demand expectations into the autumn.

Asia–Europe had its surge earlier in the summer and is now working through the other side of it. Demand cooled; the rate followed.

What both corridors share is a supply constraint that has nothing to do with demand. A succession of typhoons since mid-July has disrupted Chinese and regional Asian ports, with the most recent storm forcing closures at Shanghai and Ningbo. Carriers have responded by omitting port calls, rerouting through transhipment hubs and adjusting vessel rotations. Those moves protect schedule integrity in the short term, but they displace cargo and compound backlogs elsewhere in the network — which is exactly the feedback loop that makes port congestion so hard to unwind once it starts.

The result is that effective capacity is tighter than the deployed fleet suggests. On the transpacific that has amplified a rally. On Asia–Europe it has put a floor under a decline that might otherwise have been sharper.

Watch the blanking programme, not just the rate

Drewry's Container Capacity Insight counted six blank sailings announced on the transpacific for the following week — double the previous week's total. Carriers are also adding some transpacific capacity in September ahead of the Golden Week withdrawals, which may give brief relief before space tightens again later in the month.

Why the numbers differ

Two credible providers published different figures for what sounds like the same lane in the same week: $7,185 from Drewry for Shanghai–Los Angeles, $7,621 from Freightos for Asia–US West Coast. The gap is not an error in either. Drewry is assessing a named port pair; Freightos is assessing a regional aggregate. The sample populations differ, and so does the treatment of surcharges inside an all-in figure.

This matters when a customer quotes an index back at you. Before conceding the point, establish which index, which port pair and which basis — the questions set out in our guide to reading a container freight rate index. A 6% gap between two published benchmarks is larger than most of the concessions being argued over.

What it means for quoting

Three practical consequences for the week ahead.

Stop quoting off a composite. A flat global index told you nothing useful last week. Corridor-level and port-pair benchmarks did.
Treat Asia–Europe softness as a correction, not a collapse. Both legs remain well above May levels, congestion is still absorbing capacity, and Golden Week blanking is ahead. A customer expecting the July peak to unwind fully by October is likely to be disappointed.
Price transpacific space, not transpacific rates. With blank sailings doubling week on week and congestion displacing cargo, the risk on that corridor is availability. A rate you cannot use is worth less than a slightly higher rate with a committed allocation — the reasoning behind prioritising capacity commitments over headline rates in any contract discussion.

Drewry expected rates to hold broadly stable into the following week, with resilient demand meeting continued capacity management. The variable that decides the rest of September is whether Far East congestion eases before the Golden Week withdrawals land on top of it.

Frequently asked questions

Why are transpacific rates rising while Asia–Europe rates fall?

The two corridors are running on different demand cycles. Transpacific peak-season demand started early, in May, and has stayed firmer than carriers expected, while Asia–Europe demand cooled after its own summer surge. Typhoon congestion at Chinese ports is tightening effective capacity on both trades, but on Asia–Europe that support has only slowed the decline rather than reversed it.

What was the Drewry World Container Index in the first week of September 2026?

Drewry's World Container Index was flat at $4,465 per 40ft container on 3 September 2026. The composite held steady because gains on transpacific routes offset falls on Asia–Europe. Underneath the flat headline, Shanghai–Los Angeles rose 5% to $7,185 and Shanghai–Genoa fell 10% to $4,368.

Are Asia–Europe rates now cheap?

No. Asia–North Europe has come down by more than $1,000 per FEU from its July peak and the Mediterranean by more than $2,000, but Freightos data cited by FreightWaves puts both lanes roughly 40% to 70% above their pre-peak May levels. The corridor is correcting from a high, not returning to a trough.

Why do Drewry and Freightos publish different rates for the same lane?

Because they measure different things. The two providers use different port-pair definitions, different sample populations and different rules on which surcharges are included in an all-in figure. Drewry assessed Shanghai–Los Angeles at $7,185 while Freightos put Asia–US West Coast at $7,621 in the same week. Neither is wrong; they are not the same measurement.

Should I fix Asia–Europe rates now or wait?

That depends on how much of your Q4 volume you can afford to leave exposed. The corridor is falling but is still well above May levels, and Golden Week blank sailings land before the quarter closes. Splitting volume between a fixed allocation and spot is usually more defensible than calling the bottom, particularly where you need guaranteed space rather than the lowest headline number.