09/14/2026
You're going to see a lot of posts this week saying container prices are about to explode because of the shipping crisis.
We checked. They're not.
Ocean freight rates were flat last week and flat the week before β $4,476 for a 40ft box on the main index, barely moved. Rates did jump hard, but that happened back in the spring when the Strait of Hormuz closed. It already happened. It's in the price.
The real news is grimmer and quieter. Hormuz is in its seventh month shut β six ships got through on 6 September, against 85 a day before the war. The Houthis took the last of Yemen's Red Sea coast over the weekend. The UN's shipping agency is now tracking four separate war zones at sea at the same time.
So does any of it change what you pay for a container in your yard?
Some of it, honestly, yes β one-trip containers come from China on a ship, and that freight is expensive right now. Used containers, much less so, and much slower.
We laid out the whole thing, including the part where we tell you not to panic-buy:
Last updated: 14 September 2026 Β· By Adrian Stan-Stefanescu, Founder, YES Containers The short version. The global shipping crisis is real and it is getting worse, but the headline number everyone is quoting is wrong. The Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed since 28 February β six transi...