Spot freight rates on intra-Asian routes continue on a downward path and are now near their lowest level in a year. Specifically, according to the Intra-Asia Container Index (IACI), compiled by the consultancy Drewry, spot rates fell by 9% in the last fortnight of September, settling at 554 dollars per 40-foot container. This is 6% below September 2024, and Drewry forecasts that the downward trend will continue during the first half of October.
This is a figure close to the 500 dollars reached in the first half of October 2024, the point from which spot freight rates on intra-Asian routes skyrocketed to reach 934 dollars in the first half of December. Since then, and except for the rebound at the end of June (813 dollars), the trend has been decreasing.
The most expensive spot freight is for the Shanghai-Jawaharlal Nehru Port route, with an index of 1,127 dollars, although 33% less than in the first half of September. It is followed by the Shanghai-Tanjung Pelepas route, with 802 dollars, and Shanghai-Yokohama, with 778 dollars. In contrast, the cheapest remains Ho Chi Minh City-Shanghai, with a rate of 33 dollars.
The IACI is a volume-weighted index of container shipping spot freight rates on 18 major intra-Asian trade routes with origin and destination in China: 3 in North and East Asia (Japan, South Korea and Taiwan), 5 in Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam) and 2 in South and West Asia (India and United Arab Emirates).
