Throughout 2025, the monthly average for the Drewry Container Index WCI, which is used to measure the cost of transporting a forty-foot container on key ocean shipping routes, has been consistently lower compared to the ERAI index, which reflects the cost of shipping a container by rail within the wide gauge (1,520 mm gauge) railway network from one border to another. The WCI peaked in the beginning of the year at $3,666 per FEU, reaching $3,986 per FEU on January 9. The rate for shipping a FEU from Shanghai to Rotterdam exceeded $4,000 in the beginning of the year. The rates subsequently went down, staying within the $2,050-$2,550 range from early March until the end of May. In June, freight rates soared with the Drewry index reaching $3,543 per FEU. In particular, the index for shipments from Shanghai to Rotterdam reached $3,468 per FEU. The rates consistently declined in the second half of 2025 with the market returning to a downward trajectory after short-lived fluctuations during the summer months. In October, WCI Drewry was at its annual low of about $1,650 per FEU. After that, there was an upward adjustment which lasted until the end of the year with the index increasing to $2,213 per FEU by the end of December. As for the Shanghai — Rotterdam WCI, it surged to over $2,500 per FEU.
Meanwhile, the ERAI Composite index for freight transit by rail remained stable throughout the year by staying within the range of $3,200 to $3,300 per FEU, which shows that rail shipping rates are less volatile and are more predictable compared to maritime shipping. These statistics also demonstrate that short-term external shocks do not affect freight shipments by rail in Eurasia as much as maritime transits.
Freight traffic along the Eurasian rail route totalled 572,300 TEUs in 2025, down 23.3% compared to 2024 with transit volumes of 745,900 TEUs. In particular, transit traffic within the China — Europe — China segment decreased by 18.2% from 380,600 to 311,200 TEUs.
Growing competition with maritime transport became one of the key factors behind the decrease in rail freight traffic between China and Europe. Spot rates for maritime shipments from Asia to Europe gradually declined throughout 2025, making sea routes increasingly more attractive for shippers. According to data from ERAI experts, the shipping rate from Shanghai to Rotterdam fell within the range of $2,150 to $2,600 per FEU in December 2025, while the rate for shipping a FEU by rail ranged from $5,600 to $6,600. Rail transit enjoyed a period of higher demand during the Red Sea crisis in 2024, but in 2024 some of the shipments reverted to maritime routes as navigation normalised, affecting the balance between the two types of transport.
Electronics, mechanical equipment and automotive equipment remained the key freight categories for the Eurasian rail route. In 2025, they amounted to about 103,000 TEUs, even if the shipping volumes decreased substantially compared to 2024 in each of these categories with electronics 35.5% down from 58,400 to 37,700 TEUs, mechanical equipment 29.6% down from 46,600 to 32,800 TEUs, and automotive equipment 18.6% down from 39.9% to 32.5%. Therefore, the aggregate share for these categories in container shipments decreased from 38.1% in 2024 to 33.2% in 2025, while in 2023 this indicator stood at 44.3%. This declining share for the leading freight categories demonstrates that freight shipments are becoming increasingly, albeit gradually, diversified as the share of other categories is on the rise.
