Market note

Weekly container freight rate index (China lanes)

Each week Yihang publishes a short note when Drewry’s World Container Index moves enough to matter for shippers booking ocean freight from China. The composite and named lane figures are Drewry’s, for the Thursday named in each article. They are not a rate you book on this site.

By Delia Qu, Deputy General Manager

Latest week

Updated from the newest note in this series.

Drewry WCI 22 Oct 2026: +2% to $4,585/40ft Published 2026-10-23

Drewry WCI 22 October 2026: World Container Index $4,585/40ft (+2%). Shanghai–LA $8,007, NY $10,166, Rotterdam $3,632, Genoa $4,152—15-week high.

Read the 22 October index note

What the Drewry World Container Index measures

Drewry’s World Container Index (WCI) is a composite of spot freight rates on selected deep-sea container routes, expressed per 40-foot container on the lanes Drewry publishes each Thursday.
Other publishers run their own indices (for example SCFI, Xeneta, and FBX) with different lane baskets, units, and sampling. They can move differently in the same week.
An index tells you what the market looked like on a date. Your file still has a commodity, weight, port pair, and sailing week. The desk quotes that on /quote/ with a validity date—prepaid freight only.

How shippers should read a weekly note

Compare the index move to your ready date and gateway, not to a blog average transit time.
When carriers announce FAK or blank sailings, ask whether your sailing week is affected before you assume capacity.
Use lane pages for planning windows: USA, Europe, Canada, and others linked from each note.
Attribute market figures to Drewry in correspondence; Yihang republishes them as context, not as its tariff.

All weekly index notes

Newest first. Older notes keep the figures for their own date.

22 October index 2026-10-23

Drewry WCI 22 October 2026: World Container Index $4,585/40ft (+2%). Shanghai–LA $8,007, NY $10,166, Rotterdam $3,632, Genoa $4,152—15-week high.

15 October index 2026-10-16

Drewry WCI up 3% to $4,485/40ft on 15 Oct 2026. Rotterdam +6% to $3,522; Asia–Europe FAK from 19 Oct. What it means for China booking—not a Yihang rate.

8 October indices 2026-10-10

Drewry WCI fell 2% to $4,351/40ft on 8 Oct 2026 after Golden Week. Shanghai–LA $7,624, NY $10,220. Index context for China shippers—not a bookable rate.