Container freight rates are expected to remain at record levels, but the price shippers have to pay will vary.

The differences are greatest in the transpacific, where the spread between the lowest and highest rates has widened to $15,000 per 40-foot equivalent unit (feu).

That spread is reflected in widely differing rate estimates of freight index providers.

The highest rates are reported by the Freightos Baltic Index (FBX), where the spot rates from China to the US East Coast (USEC) are $21,686 per feu, as of 3 September.