The route between Asia and the United States has become the most lucrative major trade in container shipping, earning carriers far more per mile than voyages to Europe, according to new analysis from Alphaliner reported by Splash247.
Revenue per mile
- Shanghai–Los Angeles: about $7,500 per FEU over 5,775 nautical miles, or roughly $1.30 per container per nautical mile
- Shanghai–New York: about 96 cents per mile, with spot rates above $10,000 per FEU since late August
- Shanghai–Rotterdam: only 26 cents via the Cape of Good Hope and 34 cents via Suez
These are revenue figures, not profit, but they show how far the main east–west trades have diverged. US rates have stayed strong well past the usual peak season and are close to pandemic-era levels.
Carriers shift ships to the Pacific
- MSC has upgraded its Sentosa service with 23,600 TEU ships, replacing vessels of around 15,000 TEU.
- ZIM, which already has 52% of its capacity on the Pacific, plans another China–California service in December.
- COSCO’s third-quarter liner profit doubled year on year to $2.66 billion, with transpacific revenue up 61.2%.
Signs of cooling
Freightos puts Asia–US west coast rates at $8,340 per FEU and east coast rates at $9,911, still about $5,500 above pre-peak levels. But Drewry reported Shanghai–Los Angeles rates down 6% to $7,514 last week and Shanghai–New York down 5% to $9,631, and expects more softening as US imports are forecast to fall 11% month on month in November. Sea-Intelligence warns that weekly Asia–US west coast capacity could reach a record 400,000 TEU this month.
For Bangladeshi exporters, who ship much of their garment output to the US via Asian transhipment hubs, strong transpacific rates mean higher freight costs on one of their most important routes.
Based on reporting by Splash247, 5 November 2026, citing Alphaliner, Freightos, Drewry and Sea-Intelligence.
Photo: Representative image: an Evergreen container ship (file photo). Aah-Yeah / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
