Every so often, ocean rates hit the headlines — "up by double digits," "no space to be found." But for your particular shipment, what really drives the landed cost usually isn't the base rate the news talks about — it's the string of surcharges buried under the quote. Here's how we read it from the customs floor.
Three takeaways
- Headlines track the base rate, but what eats your margin is usually surcharges like BAF, PSS, THC and CAF.
- Compare the all-in landed cost, not the base rate — two carriers with the same base rate don't mean you pay the same.
- Locking a rate is not securing space: book early for U.S.-lane space; use short-validity or index-linked pricing for Europe.
Indexes show direction, not a Taiwan-origin quote
Last verified: . The figures below are public indexes and announcements; the carrier or forwarder's current quote still controls the actual rate and surcharges.
Drewry World Container Index, assessment dated 2026-09-10, US$ per 40ft container: the composite was US$4,476, flat week-on-week for a second consecutive week.
| Lane | Spot index | Week-on-week |
|---|---|---|
| Shanghai → Los Angeles | US$7,352 | +2% |
| Shanghai → New York | US$9,726 | +1% |
| Shanghai → Rotterdam | US$3,997 | −2% |
| Shanghai → Genoa | US$4,216 | −3% |
No public index publishes a Taiwan-origin (Kaohsiung / Keelung / Taichung) spot rate to the U.S. or Europe. Every index above is Shanghai-origin or a China/East Asia regional aggregate, so a Taiwanese shipper should read it as direction, not as their own quote.
Other signals worth reading with the index
- The Shanghai Shipping Exchange's SCFI composite was 3662.18 on 2026-09-11, up 72.13 from 3590.05 on 2026-09-04. The unit is the trap: SCFI quotes Europe and Mediterranean per TEU, but U.S. West and East Coast per FEU.
- Drewry Cancelled Sailings Tracker, 2026-09-11: 79 blank sailings across weeks 38–42 out of 721 planned (11%), of which 52% are transpacific eastbound. Announcements for weeks 38–41 rose from 39 to 70 in one week.
- Drewry's stated reason Asia–Europe is falling is that the selective return of services to the Suez Canal is restoring effective capacity. Xeneta put Bab el-Mandeb weekly average capacity at 212,636 TEU in August 2026, versus 930,679 TEU in August 2023 — about 23% of pre-crisis.
- Global schedule reliability was 29.4% in August 2026, down from 39% in May (Xeneta, 2026-09-04).
What this news is really about
Ocean rates swing widely with space supply and demand, fuel costs, geopolitics and peak-season demand, and the news usually focuses on the base rate on one major lane going up or down. But an actual quote is "base rate plus a stack of surcharges," and rates differ by carrier, by lane and by point in time — the current live quote is what counts. That's exactly why the percentage in the headline is so hard to translate into your own cost change.
Rates swing, but "reading the quote" is the constant you can control
- What really eats your margin often isn't the base rate — it's the easy-to-overlook line items like BAF (bunker adjustment factor), the peak-season surcharge (PSS), THC (terminal handling charge) and CAF (currency adjustment factor)
- When rates climb, the people who panic most are the ones who "only remember what they paid last time, but don't know how that number was built." Break down the structure of the quote, and you can work out the impact of any rise or fall yourself
Three things you can do right now
1. Break the quote's "surcharge structure" apart
Don't just remember one total. Ask your forwarder to itemize the base rate, each surcharge and the local charges separately — that's how you know which part went up this time, and whether it'll move again next time. Pull a rough number with a tool first, then check it line by line against the formal quote.
A freight quote, live from a real person on LINE
Give us the weight, volume and lane, and a real person sends back an ocean/air freight baseline right away — no more guessing at it yourself
Get a freight quote on LINE ›2. Compare the "all-in landed cost," not the base rate
Two carriers quoting the same base rate doesn't mean you pay the same. Add up freight, surcharges, customs clearance, inland drayage and duties and taxes into a single "landed cost," then compare — so a pretty base-rate number doesn't fool you.
Import Tariff Calculator
Freight is only part of the landed cost. Run the customs value and duty rate together to see the real on-the-ground number after duty plus business tax
Use the AI Tariff Calculator ›3. Split the booking call by lane: locking a rate is not securing space
Transpacific (U.S. lanes): booking early is defensible, but for space, not price. Rates have risen six weeks running and 52% of announced Golden Week blank sailings are on this trade. Drewry's own reason for early booking is capacity, and it expected rates to stay stable the following week. Plan shipments earlier and keep different sailings or LCL options in reserve so a space shortage does not force your hand.
Asia–Europe (Rotterdam / Genoa): locking a long fixed rate now is the wrong move. Both lanes have fallen every week for six weeks, while returning Suez transits add structural capacity. Use short validity or index-linked terms, and book early only for Golden Week space.
EU emissions surcharges belong on a 2026 rate page
From 2026, carriers surrender allowances for 100% of covered EU ETS shipping emissions (2024 was 40%; 2025 was 70%). The critical Art. 3ga qualifier is that only 50% of emissions on a voyage between an EU/EEA port and a non-EU port are covered. So a Kaohsiung → Rotterdam voyage is 100% of half the voyage's emissions, not 100% of all its emissions. CH₄ and N₂O entered scope on 2026-01-01.
Carrier example: Maersk Emissions Surcharge (EMS/ESS), Far East Asia → North Europe, 40ft dry: US$155 for Q3 2026 (valid to 2026-09-30), rising to US$170 from 2026-10-01.
That Maersk EMS/ESS bundles EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime; it is not an ETS-only charge, and it resets quarterly. Include it in the all-in landed-cost comparison rather than looking at the base rate alone.
Want to know what this rate swing means for your particular shipment?
Tell us your items, quantity and lane, and we'll break down the quote and work out your landed cost from the customs-floor angle. A real person replies on LINE
Message us on LINE More customs & trade commentaryAbout this piece: This is Jumping Freight's summary and viewpoint on publicly reported ocean rate developments, offered as a reference for Taiwan importers and exporters; rates and surcharges are as quoted live by carriers and forwarders at the time.