Global container throughput reached an all-time monthly record in July 2026. According to revised figures from shipping lines, compiled by Container Trade Statistics (CTS) and published via FreightWaves, global volume stood at 17.3 million TEUs. That is approximately 4.5 per cent higher than in July last year — despite global trade facing operational constraints and disruptions caused by the conflict involving Iran.
The new record is some 25,000 TEUs above the previous high, which was set in May 2026. Over the first seven months of 2026, global volumes are 5.1 per cent higher than in the same period of 2025. CTS describes volumes as being at an unprecedented level, despite the global challenges.
Price index rises in line with volumes
It is striking that freight rates are rising in line with volumes. The CTS Global Price Index rose to 115 points in July, 7 points higher than a month earlier and 47 per cent higher than at the start of the year. Compared with July 2025, the index is 37 per cent higher. The sharp rise began in February 2026, coinciding with the outbreak of the crisis in the Persian Gulf.
The last time the index reached comparable levels was in August 2024. According to the figures, this underlines how market disruption is driving up freight rates, even as volumes remain robust. Shipping lines are therefore carrying more cargo than ever before, at rates that have risen sharply in a short space of time.
Africa is growing the fastest
In the first seven months of 2026, all major regions recorded growth in imports, with one exception: the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East, where imports fell by 4.2 per cent — a direct consequence of regional unrest. Sub-Saharan Africa recorded the strongest growth in percentage terms at 14 per cent, partly driven by cargo from Asia, which accounted for nearly 700,000 additional TEUs compared with 2025. Imports from North America to Sub-Saharan Africa also rose by nearly 15 per cent. Africa is thus playing an increasingly significant role in global container flows.
Europe is importing significantly more from the Far East
European imports were 6.1 per cent higher year-on-year up to and including July. Cargo from the Far East contributed approximately 1.5 million additional TEUs to this figure. FreightWaves cites the growing European demand for cars built in China as a possible explanation, with part of those shipments shifting to containers due to capacity and cost pressures on traditional car carriers.
Exports confirm Asia’s pivotal role
On the export side, the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East saw the sharpest decline, at 8.5 per cent. European exports contracted slightly by 0.7 per cent; exports from Europe to the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East fell by more than 10 per cent. This is widening the gap between strong European imports and weaker exports. Asia recorded the strongest export growth: nearly 9 per cent, accounting for almost 6 million additional TEUs, with growth to every destination region and particularly strong contributions to Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Implications for importers and exporters
Record volumes sound like good news, but for shipping lines they present a complex puzzle: streamlining more cargo than ever through a network that is simultaneously grappling with detours, disruptions and shifting trade flows. That pressure ultimately trickles down to the recipient of the cargo. Fuller ships and tighter capacity increase the likelihood of delays and rescheduled shipments, whilst the rising price index shows that freight rates are also on the rise. For importers, it is therefore worth booking well in advance and requesting rates in good time.
You should also bear in mind congestion further down the supply chain: record volumes at sea are leading to peak workloads at container handling facilities in the ports. If you’d like to know what the shifting trade flows — from Africa to the Far East — mean for your own routes and planning, please request a bespoke consultation.
TEU stands for twenty-foot equivalent unit, the standard size of a twenty-foot container? The July record of 17.3 million TEUs therefore means that, worldwide, the equivalent of over 17 million twenty-foot containers was shipped in a single month.
