Shipping container rates from Asia to the United States still face upward pressure amid an early start to the peak season and volumes drawn into new tariffs, but lower bunker fuel costs could help slow the increases.
Prices for both coasts from global logistics company Freight Right showed the largest increase this week, exceeding $6,000/40-foot equivalent unit (40-foot equivalent unit) to the West Coast and $7,500/FEU to the East Coast, as shown in the following chart.
Ocean freight rates from China to North American coasts have seen a sharp rise over the past week, driven by significant volume increases in the first half of June, said Robert Khachatryan, founder and CEO of Freight Right Logistics.
“Carriers reported a significant rise in freight volumes during the first half of June,” Khachatryan said. “This increase was largely due to shippers loading their inventory early to avoid peak season bottlenecks, which directly led to the implementation of GRIs (general rate increases) for the second half of the month.”
Another driver of higher rates is a rush by importers to get ahead of new tariffs planned by the administration after the US Supreme Court ruled against tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
“The United States has actively developed its strategy to replace expiring emergency surcharges with permanent Section 301 tariffs,” Khachatryan said.
Khachatryan said he expects continued upward pressure and prolonged volatility.
“Shipping companies should abandon expectations of a rapid correction in rates,” Khachatryan noted.
Rates from online freight forwarding marketplace and pallet provider Freightos were flat to the West Coast and up 4% to the East Coast, after showing higher rates the week before.
Easing fuel costs is likely to reduce some of the upward pressure on prices in the near term that has kept prices higher on an annual basis since the start of the war, said Judah Levin, head of research at Freightos.
“But while the Emergency Fuel Surcharge (EFS) will be relevant to spot shipments, large shippers with annual contracts will still pay higher rates across fuel adjustment factors in the third quarter even as fuel costs decline,” Levin said.
Levin expects prices to decline once fuel prices return to normal.
“We can expect freight rates to pick up where they left off before the war: downward pressure on rates from a growing fleet,” Levin added. “If the peace agreement accelerates the large-scale return of tankers to the Red Sea, this downward pressure will be stronger.”
Container ships and shipping container costs are relevant to the chemical industry because while most chemicals are liquids and are shipped in tankers, container ships transport polymers – such as polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), which are shipped in pellets. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is also shipped in containers.
They also transport liquid chemicals in isotonic tanks.
Source: ICIS By Adam Iannelli, https://www.icis.com/explore/resources/news/2026/06/17/11217505/asia-us-container-rates-face-upward-pressure-falling-fuel-costs-could-cap-increases/
