The cost of moving goods around the world has fallen to its lowest level since early 2024, as the shipping industry finally works through the backlogs that have plagued global trade for nearly two years.
The Freightos Baltic Index, a widely watched benchmark for container shipping rates, dropped 14 per cent in July to $1,847 per forty-foot equivalent unit on the key Asia-to-Northern Europe route. The Transpacific route from Shanghai to Los Angeles fell even more sharply, down 18 per cent to $2,310, according to data released Wednesday by the shipping analytics platform.
Industry analysts attribute the easing to a combination of factors: the delivery of new container vessels ordered during the post-pandemic boom, normalising consumer demand patterns, and the resolution of port labour disputes that had caused congestion at major European hubs including Rotterdam and Hamburg.
“The market is finally finding its equilibrium after an extraordinary period of disruption,” said Mark Templeton, head of freight research at Drewry Shipping Consultants. “Vessel capacity has increased by roughly 8 per cent year on year, and that additional space is translating directly into lower rates for importers and exporters.”
The news will come as a relief to British retailers and manufacturers, many of whom have absorbed sharply higher logistics costs over the past 18 months. The British Retail Consortium estimated that elevated shipping rates added approximately £1.2 billion to the cost of imported consumer goods in 2025 alone.
Small and medium-sized businesses have been hit particularly hard. “We were paying nearly three times the pre-pandemic rate to bring in stock from our suppliers in Vietnam,” said Helen Morris, founder of Birmingham-based homewares brand Morris & Clay. “The recent reductions have given us breathing room to invest in product development again rather than just managing costs.”
Not all routes have benefited equally. Shipping lanes serving Africa and South America continue to see elevated prices, partly due to limited competition among carriers and ongoing infrastructure constraints at several major ports. Analysts warn that geopolitical tensions, particularly in the Red Sea region, could reverse recent gains if shipping lines are forced to reroute vessels around the Cape of Good Hope once more.
Still, the overall direction is encouraging. The International Monetary Fund last week revised its global trade growth forecast upward to 3.4 per cent for 2026, citing improving logistics efficiency as a key factor alongside stabilising energy prices.