Market update: Rates soften as November increases meet weak demand

Container rates eased slightly this week, while carriers keep adjusting capacity and routings. Here are the developments from the past ten days that matter most for importers and exporters.

Rates: Drewry's composite World Container Index fell 3% to $4,429 per 40ft container in its latest assessment. On Asia–Europe, Shanghai–Rotterdam rose 1% to $3,686 and Shanghai–Genoa was unchanged at $4,151. Rotterdam–Shanghai stayed at $646. Drewry expects Asia–Europe rates to remain stable next week, while transpacific rates keep falling.

Surcharges and capacity: Carriers have announced GRI and FAK increases for early November. Zencargo notes that market indices still point downward, and Drewry questions whether the increases can hold given weak demand. Zencargo expects blank sailings to cut November capacity by about 9%, but to halve next week. Drewry counts four Asia–Europe blank sailings next week, down from eight this week. Sea-Intelligence reports weekly capacity above 350,000 TEU between Asia and Northern Europe. Part of this comes from added departures that could not sail on their original dates.

Suez and the Middle East: On 2 November, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd announced that their ME1 India–Europe service will return to the Suez Canal. The first westbound sailing leaves Salalah on 4 November, and all dates remain subject to security conditions. Evergreen is relaunching its China–Red Sea service on 12 November. Drewry reports 62 Suez transits last week, the highest of 2026, while disruption in the Strait of Hormuz limited passage to just two vessels.

What this means for your cargo: Treat November sailing schedules as provisional and confirm space, cut-offs and routing (Suez or Cape) before cargo is ready. Announced increases are not always applied in full, so compare quotes close to the cargo-ready date. Book early for time-sensitive shipments.

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