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ContainerSignal Daily: Global box volumes hit record 17.46m TEU

By Toni Tan · · 11 min read

Global container volumes set a record in August and freight pricing reached its highest level in more than two years, even as the long peak season that kept US imports elevated through the summer now appears to be winding down. The split between record liftings and falling Far East to Europe spot rates frames the market going into the final quarter of 2026.

Today’s Signals

Freight Rates

Container Trades Statistics (CTS) said global volumes reached 17.46 million TEU in August, up 3.7% from a year earlier and above the previous record set in July, FreightWaves reports. CTS said its Global Price Index rose two points from July to 117 in August, its highest reading since July 2024, when Red Sea disruption was pushing rates up, and that the index was about 50% above its January level and 44% higher than in August 2025. Volumes were up 4.7% year over year through the first eight months, with North American imports up 2% and trans-Pacific flows up 5% over the same period. Container freight rate indexes explained sets out how these benchmarks are compiled.

On the intra-Asia lanes, Drewry’s Intra-Asia Container Index composite fell 1% to US$1,503 per 40ft in the latest weekly reading, ending six consecutive weekly increases, though it remained up 209% year on year, The Loadstar reports. Shanghai to Jebel Ali stayed elevated at US$8,662 per 40ft amid Middle East disruption; Shanghai to Singapore rose 2% to US$2,123 and Shanghai to Tanjung Pelepas 2% to US$2,100; and Shanghai to Laem Chabang, Manila and Yokohama each fell 3% from 1 October, to US$1,690, US$1,027 and US$1,052 per 40ft. The Loadstar notes Brent crude has stayed above US$100 per barrel since early September and that CMA CGM introduced a US$75 per TEU emergency fuel surcharge on intra-regional trades on 1 October.

On Far East to Europe, Xeneta’s chief analyst Peter Sand says spot rates have fallen heavily since the post-Hormuz crisis peak in July, with the Mediterranean down 43% and North Europe down 34% since 1 July, Xeneta’s weekly update says. He adds that the pace of decline has eased but that rates remain elevated and the trend is still downward, and that the spread between the Mediterranean and North Europe has narrowed to about US$400, below the roughly US$500 it stood at on 1 October 2025. Asia-Europe rates have now fallen for several consecutive weeks, as our weekly market update recorded.

Ports

US container imports hit a record for September, rising to 2,546,261 TEU, up 10.3% from September 2025 and 24.8% above September 2019, though down 2.2% from August, according to the Descartes Systems Group Global Shipping Report, Container News reports. China remained the largest source at 924,454 TEU, up 21.2% year on year, lifting its share to 36.3% from 34% in August. West Coast gateways gained share while some East and Gulf coast ports lost ground, and Descartes said port transit delays increased at eight of the ten largest US container ports.

The retail view is more muted. The National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates Global Port Tracker put August imports at 2.3 million TEU, down 0.7% from a year earlier, and now expects September at 2.28 million TEU, an 8.2% year on year rise, easing to 2.25 million TEU in October and 2 million TEU in November, gCaptain reports. The tracker expects full year 2026 imports of 25.8 million TEU across major US ports, up 1.4% from 25.4 million TEU in 2025.

Hapag-Lloyd has stopped accepting new bookings to Manila (PHMNL), Batangas (PHBTG) and Subic Bay (PHSFS) from any origin and on any trade lane, effective immediately and scheduled to run through 31 December 2026, PortCalls Asia reports. The carrier cited continued port congestion and severe limits on depot and empty container return capacity. The suspension came as customs brokers and truckers staged protests over where empties can be returned, and as the Bureau of Customs enforces a 90-day dwell time for foreign containers pending a proposed joint administrative order on congestion and empty returns.

Carrier Updates

OOCL reported a 45.1% rise in liner revenue for the third quarter of 2026, to US$3.28 billion, and container liftings of 2.12 million TEU, up 9%, with average revenue per TEU up 33.1%, Container News reports. Trans-Pacific revenue rose 71.8% to US$1.44 billion on liftings of 595,139 TEU, up 13.1%, and Asia-Europe revenue rose 45% to US$695.8 million on volumes of 399,162 TEU, up 15.4%. For the first nine months, OOCL’s liner revenue reached US$7.96 billion, up 18.9%, on 6.25 million TEU, up 6.5%. The figures are from the carrier’s unaudited operational update.

Fleet & Capacity

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has delivered what it describes as the world’s first container ship with a hybrid lashing-free system, a 13,000 TEU vessel handed to an unnamed French owner, Container News reports. The design extends the cell guides that hold containers in the holds above the upper deck, so boxes are secured within the structure and fewer manual lashing operations are needed on deck. HD Hyundai says the arrangement can increase the allowable cargo weight carried on deck by more than 10% versus conventional ships. The concept was first unveiled in 2022 with Approval in Principle from ABS and Lloyd’s Register.

CMA CGM has ordered 36 Wärtsilä 34DF dual-fuel engines to power 12 new 18,000 TEU ships under construction at Jiangnan Shipyard in China, Container News reports. Each ship takes three engines, all to run on LNG, and deliveries to the yard are due to begin in 2027. Wärtsilä says CMA CGM already operates more than 160 of the same engine type across its fleet.

Trade Routes

The Panama Canal Authority has opened a new phase of its Long-term Slot Allocation (LoTSA) program, covering 3 January to 3 April 2027, it announced. For the first time the program reaches both locks, keeping the Neopanamax LoTSA alongside a new Panamax pilot. The Neopanamax round offers 36 packages with 270 slots (165 northbound, 105 southbound), and the Panamax pilot offers 51 packages with 288 slots (147 northbound, 141 southbound). The sealed-bid competitions run on 17 November 2026 for Neopanamax and 24 November 2026 for Panamax, with remaining capacity continuing through the regular reservation system and auction. The authority ties the program to measures managing water availability.

Regulation & Policy

Samsung Electronics America is seeking at least US$186 million from CMA CGM in a US Federal Maritime Commission complaint alleging unlawful container charges and a failure to meet inland transport commitments, FreightWaves reports. CMA CGM disputes the allegations and has asked the commission to dismiss the case. The complaint concerns “store-door” shipments and says Samsung paid more than 121,000 demurrage, detention and related charges, comprising more than 26,000 demurrage charges and over 94,000 detention-type charges. It seeks about US$148 million in disputed charges, at least US$8.1 million in additional costs and about US$30 million in prejudgment interest, and cites Section 41102(c) of the Shipping Act. Demurrage vs detention explains the charges at the centre of the case.

What It Means

The record August volumes and a price index at a two-year high describe the peak that has just passed, while the falling Far East to Europe and intra-Asia readings describe what comes next. Those two forces are pulling in different directions by trade lane, so a single global rate story would mislead: the intra-Asia market is still up more than twofold year on year on feeder shortages and Middle East disruption, and the Mediterranean is down more than 40% from its July peak. For shippers, the practical picture is a normalising US import window after a stretched peak, Philippine gateways constrained into 2027, and carriers adding dual-fuel tonnage while managing congestion surcharges and cargo disputes at the regulator.

Quick Bites

  • DP World has signed a 15-year concession with the Chittagong Port Authority to operate and maintain the New Mooring Container Terminal and its overflow container yard at Chattogram Port in Bangladesh, WorldCargo News reports, amid opposition from port workers and labour groups over the terms and foreign control of the terminal.
  • CMA CGM has rolled out peak season surcharges across several trades, Container News reports: US$550 per TEU from the Far East to Durban from 8 October, US$1,000 per TEU from the east coast of South America to the west coast of South America, Central America, the Caribbean, Mexico, Guyana, Suriname, the United States and Canada from 15 October, and US$400 per TEU from the Far East to Port Louis, Mauritius, from 15 October, alongside US$200 to US$400 per TEU surcharges from China to several West African markets.

Sources

Background reading

The explainers behind today's stories, if you want the fundamentals first.

Asia-Europe rates fall even as the container network stays tight

Asia-Europe spot rates fell for a twelfth week while intra-Asia set another record and mid-size tonnage ran scarce. The two readings measure different layers.

Asia-Europe spot rates extend their fall as Transpacific gains stall

Drewry's World Container Index fell 1% to US$4,434 per 40ft in the week to 1 October, Asia-Europe's twelfth weekly decline, while Transpacific gains slowed.

Container freight rate indexes explained: WCI, FBX, SCFI and more

A reference guide to the main container freight rate indexes: what WCI, FBX, SCFI, NCFI and Xeneta XSI measure, how each is quoted, and how to cite a rate.

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