Spot rates for shipping containers from East Asia and China to the West Coast were down and rates to the East Coast were mixed, while spot rates for liquid tankers fell again this week.
Container prices
Prices on the West Coast were lower this week and now range between $5,800-$7,100 per 40-foot equivalent unit, while prices on the East Coast were mixed and now range between $7,600-$9,150 per unit.
Rates from ocean, shipping and analytics company Xeneta fell to the West Coast and were flat on the East Coast, as shown in the following chart.
There will likely be more declines at the beginning of August, but the gradual slowdown shows how interest rates fall much more slowly than they rise during a market rally, said Emily Stospol, senior shipping analyst at Xeneta.
“Some empty cruises are starting to show up on deals from Asia to North America, but even if prices start to decline, they are still at a very healthy level for carriers who want to make sure they have the capacity available to take advantage of the advantage for as long as possible,” Stospol said.
No single airline wants to be the first to withdraw significant capacity when competitors can step in and take their volume, limiting the scope for capacity management to reverse spot price declines, Stospol said.
“Carriers will use the renewed conflict between Iran and the United States — and the associated rise in fuel costs — as justification to slow the decline in prices through surcharges,” Stospol said. “But in practice, nothing has changed for container shipping this week because the vast majority of ships were not transiting the Strait of Hormuz or the Red Sea before the latest escalation, and they are not doing so now.”
Prices from supply chain consultants Drewry fell this week to both coasts due to increased capacity and easing demand.
There are six empty sailings scheduled on the Trans-Pacific trade route next week, compared to nine scheduled this week, Drury said, indicating increased capacity deployment by carriers and a widening supply-demand gap.
Drury expects interest rates to remain stable next week.
Rates from online shipping marketplace and pallet provider Freightos were flat on the East Coast and down 6% to the West Coast.
Even as crude oil prices rise due to escalating tensions in the Middle East, there is an overall slight decline in container prices as carriers add capacity to some lanes and take a break from the early peak season, said Judah Levin, head of research at Freightos.
“Carriers announced GRIs (general rate increases) and PSSs (peak season surcharges) on July 15, but instead spot rates fell slightly across key east-west corridors, with East Coast Asia and North America rates remaining flat.
“Daily averages so far this week show West Coast, Asian and Mediterranean prices continuing to decline,” Levine said. “Airlines deciding not to raise prices in the middle of the month suggests that recent expectations for a cooling demand after a severe heatwave in June and early July may now be in play.”
Levine said congestion at Asian ports could ease downward pressure on interest rates.
“At the same time, serious port congestion is absorbing capacity in the Far East, which could mitigate the degree of downward pressure there that would otherwise be on spot prices through lower existing demand and capacity additions,” Levin said. “Delays at major departure ports, initially caused by high volumes, have increased due to bouts of bad weather, including Hurricane Buffy last week.”
Rates on the NYFI fell 1% to the West Coast and rose 7.0% to the East Coast, while rates on the Shanghai Container Freight Index (SCFI), which tracks container prices leaving Shanghai, fell 0.56% – down for a third week after rising for each of the previous 10 weeks.
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.
Tanker prices
US chemical tanker freight rates assessed by ICIS were generally softer this week with lower rates for parcels from the US Gulf (USG) to major trade routes.
Rates from the US government to Rotterdam fell slightly this week, especially for the Clean Petroleum Products (CPP) market where the decline was significant. This sent more tonnage into the chemical space, which in turn drove prices down.
Overall, the spot market is remarkably quiet, although this trading corridor appears to be the busiest compared to the others. Several large shipments of biofuels have been seen in the market and are still dominant. Caustic soda, glycolate, and styrene were also seen at the end of July and early August.
Likewise, there is continued downward pressure along the US-Asia trade corridor as the spot market has been relatively quiet over the past few weeks. In general, contract for freight (COA) volumes are believed to be lower than expected.
As a result, this has put interest rates under sustained downward pressure, causing them to fall further. Common carriers have been forced to reduce their rates significantly under significant competitive pressures as many large shipments of ethylene dichloride (EDC) and monoethylene glycol (MEG) have been fixed. In addition, there is still plenty of space available for July, and many foreigners are showing room to return to the region for August, which could push prices down even further.
The same story was seen along the USG route to South America, where not many cargoes came to market and plenty of room remained for July and August. Most respondents believed that owners with any available space would likely have to lower prices to complete the stowage process, resulting in lower prices. Proposed renewed US tariffs on Brazil could increase pressure on this route, especially for gasoline, ethanol and soybean oil, which could lead to those shipments being diverted to Europe or Asia instead.
On the fuel side, fuel prices rose on the back of rising energy prices in the wake of rising tensions in the Middle East, and as a result were significantly higher week over week.
Source: By Adam Iannelli, ICIS, https://www.icis.com/explore/resources/news/2026/07/24/11225882/asia-us-container-rates-to-west-coast-fall-mixed-to-east-coast-tanker-rates-soften/
