China-Gulf Rates Pass $10,000 as Hormuz Traffic Collapses
China-Gulf Rates Pass $10,000 as Hormuz Traffic Collapses
Executive Summary
Xeneta put China-Jeddah at $10,870 per 40ft box on Sep 10, up 256% from Feb 28. Surcharges add up to $4,800 on one dangerous goods box.
| 256% |
| 479% |
| 94% |
| 93.27% |
Overview
Here's the thing. Xeneta put China-Jeddah spot rates at $10,870 per 40ft container on Sep 10, up 256% from Feb 28. China-Khor Fakkan reached $10,626 per FEU on the same day, up 479%. China-Jebel Ali quotations sat in a $7,700 to $9,200 band through September, with one platform average near $8,350, and a Shanghai-Umm Qasr quote reached $12,652. You are not comparing rates. You are comparing routings. (Source: Xeneta and freight platform quotations, September 2026.)
One box can differ by $4,000.
That is not a rate rise.
That is a closed road.
Key Details
Put simply, the freight number is only half the bill. Maersk's Sep 17 advisory set an emergency freight surcharge of $1,800 per 20ft dry container and $3,000 per 40ft for cargo to Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE and most of Oman, with reefer, special and dangerous goods boxes at $3,800. Any container that transits Hormuz carries another $1,000. Frankly, that is $4,800 on a single dangerous goods box before you add anything else.
$4,800 on one box.
Bill it as a separate line.
Watch out for the end date. There isn't one.
Looking Ahead
The catch is transit time. The Financial Times put China-UAE transit at roughly 60 days, against about 30 before the crisis, with container traffic through the strait down 94% and cargo insurance moving from about $120 per container to about $1,000. Jebel Ali used to take most Gulf box volume. Now cargo lands in Oman or at Khor Fakkan and moves onward by road, and you pay for that leg too.
Quote 60 days, not 30.
Check who pays the inland leg.
Implications
Bottom line: do not build a quotation on the assumption that surcharges disappear. Maersk set no end date, and CMA CGM added an emergency bunker surcharge of $265 per TEU for dry headhaul cargo from Oct 1, with reefer at $320 per TEU. So before you book, run through three things.
First, list every surcharge on its own line.
Second, quote 60 days to the UAE.
Third, ask the customer whether Khor Fakkan or an Oman port works, and write the inland cost into the contract.
One more thing. Do not read the traffic headlines. Ship tracking counted 7 vessels through the strait on Sep 22, down 93.27% year on year, and Kpler logged 4 bulk vessels on Sep 17 against a 10-day average of 16.
Market Outlook
We expect surcharges to stay in place through October. Returning capacity, not diplomacy, is what would move them, and the transit count is nowhere near pre-crisis levels. Plan Gulf bookings on the assumption that the surcharge lines stay on the invoice.JETWAY Supply Chain is your execution partner on the ground in China — based in Tianjin, licensed as an NVOCC (MOT) and a member of CIFA, FIATA and WCA. We handle special cargo and compliance (dangerous goods, chemicals, batteries) across ocean, air, rail and road, and we pre-check your documents before the box is stuffed so your filing clears the first time. Send us your next booking and we will run the checks above against your sailing date. Request a quote.