South America Shipping Rates Continue to Fall
Date:2026-07-17
Current Freight Rates: Entering a Rapid Downward Trend
In the latest Shanghai Export Container Freight Index as of July 17th, the South America route saw one of the largest price drops.
Latest Quote: Freight rates from Shanghai to major South American ports have fallen to $6570/TEU.
Weekly Decline: A sharp drop of 9.1% (i.e., a decrease of $660) compared to the previous period, the most significant decline among major routes.
🧐 Why Did Prices Turn from Rising to Falling?
This decline is mainly due to a reversal in market supply and demand. Key factors that previously supported freight rate increases are fading:
The "rush to ship" is receding: Previously, concerns about increased import tariffs in countries like Brazil led to a concentrated shipment rush, resulting in a short-term surge in South America shipping rates in May and June. At that time, freight rates even nearly caught up with the value of the goods. As this concentrated demand was released, insufficient new cargo volume weakened the support for freight rates.
Increased market capacity: With high freight rates, some shipping companies reallocated capacity, and new capacity was added to the market as a whole, alleviating the tight space situation to some extent.
High freight rates suppressed demand: Previously high freight rates also suppressed export demand for some low-value goods, leading to a decrease in effective orders.
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