Data Sources & Methodology

The US Census Bureau collects and publishes official US import and export statistics. Data is compiled from Electronic Export Information (EEI) filings and US Customs Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) import entry forms.

We use the End-Use classification endpoint which provides total trade values aggregated by country, giving the broadest view of bilateral trade.

VES_WGT_MO measures the total shipping weight in kilograms of goods transported via ocean vessel. This is a strong proxy for container volumes because container ships carry goods by weight and volume — more kilograms generally means more containers.

YoY % changes in vessel weight correlate closely with YoY % changes in TEU volumes, especially for highly containerized routes like China-US and Vietnam-US.

Vessel weight includes all ocean freight (container + bulk). For routes dominated by containerized trade, the correlation with TEU is very high.

Year-over-year percentage change:

Removes seasonality (Chinese New Year, holiday shipping peaks) and isolates the underlying trend. Directly comparable to indices like FreightWaves IOTI.

The FBX is the leading container freight rate index, created by Freightos and the Baltic Exchange. It measures spot rates ($/FEU) for 40-foot containers across 12 major trade lanes.

Calculated from real transaction data — millions of live freight rates from carriers, forwarders, and shippers. IOSCO-compliant, BMR-regulated, traded on CME and SGX.