Transpacific Defies Downtrend as Container Spot Rates Climb on War-Driven Demand

By Gavin van Marle (The Loadstar) – Container spot freight rates on the transpacific trade into the North America west coast managed to defy gravity and edge up this week, while most other east-west trades witnessed a third consecutive week of declines.

This week’s World Container Index (WCI) from Drewry showed its Shanghai-Los Angeles leg increasing 2% on the previous week, to end at $2,930 per 40ft, and meant it was now up 34% on the spot rate immediately prior to the outbreak of the Iran conflict.

Other indices show similar movements – The Freightos Terminal showed a Far