Carriers have struggled to raise rates in the trade, where rates plunged for much of the last year because of a rate war. The WCI this week is 28.5 percent higher than the level in the same week last year when it was $2,060 per FEU.
The WCI soared upward by 114 percent in the week of March 1 as most carriers implemented a GRI of $700 to $800 per 20-foot container on the westbound leg, but it has eased off slightly in the weeks since then.
Many of the carriers have followed market leader Maersk Line’s decision to apply a second increase of $400 per TEU on April 1.