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The Drewry World Container Index fell 2% to $4,305 per 40-foot container on Thursday, November 12, 2026, down from $4,389 a week earlier. Rates from Shanghai to New York declined 3% to $9,020, while Shanghai to Los Angeles dropped 2% to $7,416. Shanghai–Rotterdam rates fell 3% to $3,504, although Shanghai–Genoa remained stable at $4,168. Drewry also reported that average vessel waiting time at Shanghai increased to 49 hours from 36 hours the previous week, while carriers announced additional blank sailings on the transpacific and Asia–Europe trades.
Freight Rates Down.
Shanghai Waiting Times Up.
Carriers Cutting Sailings.
Three weeks of falling container rates
Verified Drewry WCI composite readings. The 22 October reading is the local high in this four-week comparison, not an asserted annual peak.
Three-week change: A cumulative $280 decline per FEU from October 22, equivalent to approximately 6.1%. The bars use $4,585 as their common maximum.
Blank sailings announced for the following week, versus four during the current week. Drewry still expects further transpacific spot-rate declines.
Announced for the following week, versus five in the current week. Carriers have also published new FAK rates and peak-season surcharges.
The Shanghai congestion reversal
Average reported vessel waiting time. Increased congestion did not prevent the latest freight-rate decline.
13 additional hours: Waiting time increased approximately 36%, reversing eleven consecutive weeks of improvement in Drewry's port-delay series.
Drewry's separate regional outlooks
A $9,020 Transpacific Rate.
A $633 Backhaul.
One Uneven Global Market.
What the route-price gaps show
Shanghai → Los Angeles costs 9.2 times the Los Angeles → Shanghai WCI assessment.
Shanghai → Rotterdam costs 5.5 times Rotterdam → Shanghai in the same weekly index.
Three signals behind the next assessment
Eight announced blank sailings on each of the two major trade groups, compared with four and five respectively in the current week.
Carriers plan higher freight-all-kinds rates and peak-season surcharges on the Asia–Europe/Mediterranean market.
Fifty-three Suez Canal transits and one Hormuz transit were reported for the preceding week, highlighting different operating conditions.
How Much Does a Weekly
Container Rate Change Cost?
Cargo owner freight exposure
Test the change in a shipment's benchmark-linked freight budget. Simple mode keeps the form compact.
Index-linked rate movement plus the selected surcharge and delay expenses, compared with last week's reference budget.
Last week's directional reference with any selected fixed rate offset.
Includes contractual pass-through, optional charges and delays.
Applies the user-selected next-week rate move to exposed freight.
Index-linked fraction multiplied by the pass-through percentage.
Freight budget bridge
Carrier revenue sensitivity
Estimate modeled revenue and direct operating contribution for a container voyage or group of shipments. This is not a forecast of a liner's actual profit.
Modeled container revenue less selected operating and incremental delay costs, excluding unmodeled fixed and corporate expenses.
Last-week realization updated for the selected portion of the new WCI.
Holding volume and realization assumptions constant.
Includes loaded-FEU costs and incremental delay or advanced expenses.
Assumes the user-selected change in the WCI rate next week.
Voyage contribution bridge
Calculation method and research boundaries
Published benchmark: The eight route pairs use Drewry's November 5 and November 12, 2026, World Container Index assessments. All rates are USD per 40-foot container. The composite WCI is a weighted average and is not included as a ninth bookable route.
Cargo owner: Previous freight budget = FEUs × (previous route WCI + selected offset). Weekly rate impact = FEUs × index-linked share × pass-through percentage × (current WCI − previous WCI). Add assumed surcharges, any extra holding expense and the financing cost of cargo held for additional days.
Next-week scenario = current modeled budget + current route WCI × hypothetical next-week % change × effective repriced FEUs. The scenario does not predict the actual November 19 WCI or an invoice from a particular carrier.
Carrier: Previous modeled revenue = loaded FEUs × (previous WCI × selected realization percentage + fixed rate offset). Rate repricing = loaded FEUs × exposed share × selected realization percentage × (current WCI − previous WCI). Add ancillary revenue, then subtract assumed FEU variable costs, incremental vessel waiting expense and any extra advanced costs.
Voyage contribution = modeled current revenue − modeled costs. The result excludes depreciation, vessel financing, fixed corporate costs, taxes, port and service-specific obligations not explicitly entered, empty-container repositioning and allocation of network overhead. It is not EBIT, EBITDA, a contract quotation or an actual voyage profit statement.
Critical limitation: Drewry WCI observations reflect assessed spot-market rates from its participating sources. The index cannot establish a given shipper's contracted price or a carrier's realized unit revenue. Repricing shares, contractual pass-through, cost rates and future movements are hypothetical. Extra costs must not be entered twice if they are already embedded in a per-FEU rate or cost assumption.
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