Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI)
China's weekly spot-freight benchmark for containerized exports from Shanghai, the world's largest container port, serving as the de facto global shipping-rate barometer.
Add to a list
No lists yet.
What it is
The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) is a weekly spot-market benchmark published by China's Shanghai Shipping Exchange (SSE), a government-authorized shipping information and services entity established in 1996. It measures volume-weighted average spot freight rates on 13 container trade routes departing Shanghai, quoted in US dollars per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU); US-coast routes are quoted per forty-foot equivalent unit (FEU). Each Friday the SSE collects rate data from shipping lines, freight forwarders, and shippers; the composite is published the same day as a weighted average of all route sub-indices, with route weights set by relative trade volumes. Routes span Europe, the Mediterranean, the US West Coast, the US East Coast, the Persian Gulf, Australia and New Zealand, East Africa, West Africa, South America, Japan, and Southeast Asia. Shanghai has ranked as the world's largest container port by throughput for more than a decade, making the SCFI the de facto global barometer for export freight costs, cited by logistics firms, central banks, and shipping analysts.
History
The SSE launched the SCFI on October 16, 2009, with a base value of 1,000 points, as Chinese trade authorities sought a domestic freight benchmark to parallel European instruments such as the Baltic Exchange. Through the 2010s the composite hovered between 600 and 1,100 points, weighed down by chronic overcapacity as carriers delivered ships ordered during the pre-2008 boom. A brief recovery through 2017-2019 gave way to violent swings with COVID-19: an early-2020 demand collapse reversed sharply as lockdown-era goods consumption surged while port congestion and container equipment shortages bottlenecked supply chains across Asia, Europe, and North America. By January 2022 the SCFI hit an all-time high of 5,109.60 points, more than five times its 2009 base, representing the most acute container supply squeeze in the index's history. Rates unwound rapidly from mid-2022 as consumer spending rotated back to services and carriers lifted blank-sailing discipline, with the composite bottoming near 900 in early 2023.
Current state
The SCFI rebounded through 2024 on two successive capacity shocks: drought-reduced Panama Canal transits cut available weekly slots, and Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, starting in late 2023, forced carriers to reroute via the Cape of Good Hope (see Dual chokepoint closure drives container freight sharply higher), adding 10-14 days per voyage between Asia and Europe. The composite peaked above 3,700 in mid-2024 before easing as new vessel deliveries lifted overall supply. As of mid-April 2026, the composite stood at 1,890.77 points, up approximately 35% year-on-year. Europe and Mediterranean sub-indices remain the most elevated due to persistent Cape rerouting; intra-Asian and transpacific lanes have partially moderated with new capacity arrivals.
Relationships
The SCFI sits within a family of Chinese maritime benchmarks. The China Containerized Freight Index (CCFI) covers a broader basket of spot and long-term contract rates from all Chinese ports, smoothing the spot volatility visible in the SCFI and making it more useful for freight-rate modeling over longer time horizons. The Baltic Dry Index (BDI), published in London by the Baltic Exchange, covers bulk (non-containerized) shipping and tracks different commodity flows. The Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE) offers the SCFIS(Europe) futures contract, enabling carriers and shippers to hedge against the Europe-lane sub-index and providing a forward rate curve alongside the weekly spot publication. Shippers, logistics operators, and hedge funds use weekly SCFI moves to time cargo bookings and negotiate fuel and port surcharges.
What to watch
Sustained SCFI readings above 2,500 have historically transmitted to consumer goods prices within 6-9 months, making the index a leading indicator for goods inflation. Three variables will determine the trajectory into late 2026 and beyond: whether carriers restore Red Sea transit as the regional conflict situation evolves; how quickly the global orderbook, estimated at roughly 25% of existing fleet capacity as of early 2026, delivers into service and compresses spot rates; and whether US import tariff-driven front-loading cycles, which pulled bookings forward sharply in early 2025, recur and distort seasonal patterns. The SCFIS(Europe) futures curve on the INE now provides a market-implied forward rate that analysts read alongside the weekly spot composite.