SE Asia Space Tightens Again: ASEAN Lane Index Up 5.5% in a Week, Hapag-Lloyd Halts Philippine Bookings to Year-End

2026-10-17 / Ocean freight

ASEAN lanes up 5.5% in a week, led by Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines

The Guangzhou Shipping Exchange's Greater Bay Area export container index for ASEAN lanes, published 15 October, read 3,512.36 points — up 182.01 points, or 5.46%, on the week. The steepest gains were on Thailand (2,139.46, +8.6%), Indonesia (1,989.55, +7.67%) and the Philippines (13,945.66, +7.35%), with Malaysia (2,067.28, +3.12%), Singapore (1,654.90, +2.94%) and Vietnam (3,490.29, +1.67%) also climbing. Behind the rates is volume: China's trade with ASEAN reached 6.84 trillion yuan in the first three quarters, up 22.7% year on year and 17.1% of total foreign trade, according to customs data. Peak season on top of that base makes tight space no surprise.

Manila is full, and Hapag-Lloyd has stopped taking bookings

The sharper signal came from a carrier. Hapag-Lloyd has told customers it is suspending new bookings to the Philippines' three main ports — Manila, Batangas and Subic Bay — across all origins and trade lanes, with the restriction planned to run until 31 December 2026, as reported by 10jqka Finance on 16 October. The stated reasons are specific: persistent congestion at Philippine ports, severely constrained container yard capacity and impaired empty-container returns. Ningbo Shipping Exchange data dated 16 October backs that up: the Ningbo–Manila freight index jumped 9.6% in a week and Ningbo–Ho Chi Minh rose 4.6%, the two strongest ASEAN port pairs.

Not every port is rising

In the same Ningbo reading, Ningbo–Singapore slipped 1.4%, Ningbo–Port Klang fell 2.9%, Ningbo–Bangkok dropped 2.9% and Ningbo–Laem Chabang lost 6.4%. Drewry's Intra-Asia Container Index of 15 October also eased 3% to $1,453 per 40ft, with Shanghai–Singapore at $1,973, down 7% on the week. Golden Week gave ports a window to clear backlogs: average vessel waiting time at Singapore fell from 50 to 34 hours, with Busan and Nhava Sheva improving too. Same region, very different levels of tightness depending on direction.

Shipping to the Philippines? Keep a backup plan through year-end

For cargo bound for Manila, Batangas or Subic, the core question for the next two months is not price but whether space exists at all — confirm the booking before sending goods to the warehouse. For Singapore and Port Klang, the window is actually friendlier: rates are softening, so there is no need to hold cargo back.