News / East-west container freight rate decline slows, but price hikes are on the way

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Container freight rates on the main east-west trades almost halted their decline over recent weeks, but not quite.

According to this morning’s Shanghai Containerised Freight Index, rates to North Europe from Shanghai slipped just $5 per teu to finish the week at $681 per teu, and to Mediterranean ports by $6 to $646 per teu.

There was a similar situation on the China-US trades, with rates to the US west coast declining just $1 to effectively stabilise at $1,366 per 40ft, while the China-east coast ...