Intra-Asia Container Rates Slide Again — Except the Middle East Lane, Which Refuses to Budge

The post-Golden Week market is doing what it usually does — softening — but only in places. Drewry's Intra-Asia Container Index (IACI) eased 3% to $1,453 per 40ft container on 15 October, a second consecutive weekly decline after a six-week record run. The Golden Week lull let ports clear their backlogs, and schedule reliability is improving with them.

The declines are concentrated on the main ex-Shanghai lanes. Shanghai to Jawaharlal Nehru Port dropped 11% week on week to $3,370 per 40ft; Shanghai-Busan fell 8% to $1,000; Shanghai-Singapore gave up 7% to $1,973. Port operations are healing in parallel: average vessel waiting times in week 41 fell from 26 to 23 hours at Busan, from 42 to 24 at JNPT, and from 50 to 34 hours at Singapore. The only upticks were the low-base backhaul lanes — Busan-Shanghai and Yokohama-Shanghai each rose 4%, to $159 and $120 respectively.

Then there is the outlier. Shanghai-Jebel Ali sits at $8,416 per 40ft, unmoved, priced by Gulf geopolitics rather than regional supply and demand. That premium is not going away on its own: Brent crude has held above $100 a barrel since early September, and CMA CGM began collecting a $75 per teu emergency fuel surcharge on all intra-regional trades from 1 October. Even after two weeks of declines, the IACI is still 198% above its level a year ago. Anyone benchmarking contracts off last year's numbers is working from a market that no longer exists.

Capacity news matters this week, too. OOCL starts its China-Cambodia-Thailand (CCT4) service on 23 October, calling Nansha, Shekou, Sihanoukville and Songkhla — a direct option that bypasses Singapore transshipment for South China cargo bound for Cambodia and southern Thailand. In the opposite direction of adjustment, the jointly operated South Korea/China-India service of Bengal Tiger Line, KMTC, Interasia Lines and Wan Hai (CCS/CI5/FME2) is dropping Singapore calls in both directions; six vessels of around 4,000 teu will instead rotate through Qingdao, Busan, Shanghai, Shekou, Port Kelang, Chennai, Kattupalli, Port Kelang, Pasir Gudang and Kaohsiung.

For shippers, the playbook splits by destination. Cargo for Southeast Asia and India: the next two weeks are a negotiation window, but price against your actual lane, not the composite index, and compare direct calls against Singapore or Tanjung Pelepas routings — the spread between them is widening. Cargo for the Gulf: do not wait for a dip. At $8,416 with no visible catalyst for relief, the sensible move is booking three to four weeks out and locking space rather than hunting price. This window of softening intra-Asia rates, if history is any guide, will not stay open long.

Yufeng International Logistics operates dedicated Middle East services covering Jebel Ali, Dammam, Doha and Kuwait — see the Middle East routes page.

Sources: Based on Drewry's weekly Intra-Asia Container Index assessment (published via FreshPlaza) and Carpamann Supply Chain Review.