This week the Drewry World Container Index increased by 2% to $1,687 per 40ft container, marking first increase after 17 consecutive weeks of decline.

Spot rates from Shanghai to Los Angeles increased by 1% to $2,195 per 40 container; to New York, they also increased by 1% to $3,236. Spot rates on the Asia-Europe trade saw a slight increase. Rates Shanghai to Rotterdam increased by 6% to $1,669 per 40ft container; to Genoa, they went up by 2% to1,821.

The increases were the result of an industry-wide move by carriers who implemented new FAK rates on Oct. 15 in an effort arrest a slide in market rates after the Golden Week. [Top 3 Container Lines Launch Simultaneous GRI! From Oct. 15, Impacting Several Major Trad]. According to Drewry's assessment, the rates are expected to increase further next week, driven by the GRI measures implemented by the carriers recently.

However, momentum is not expected to last, and the rates may soon come back down. In that scenario, carriers may attempt to implement another GRI on Nov. 1 and Nov.15 to combat the rate decline.

Drewry's Container Forecast report expects the balance of supply and demand to weaken over the next few quarters, leading to decrease in spot rates.