Swire Shipping will charge US$700 for a standard 40-foot container at the ports of Long Beach and Oakland from 15 November 2026, under revised Terminal Handling Charges covering both origin and destination moves.

The carrier confirmed the new tariff applies to import and export containers arriving at or departing from the two California ports. The revision covers the Terminal Handling Charge at both ends of the move, identified in Swire's tariff structure by the codes TOC and TDC.

What are the new rates?

The full schedule for both Long Beach and Oakland:

• 20-foot, all types: US$455
• 20-foot reefer/special: US$505
• 40-foot, all types: US$700
• 40-foot reefer/special: US$750

Reefer and special equipment carries a US$50 premium over standard boxes in both size brackets. That spread matters for perishables and out-of-gauge cargo shippers routing through Southern or Northern California.

Who pays, and when?

The charges hit cargo arriving at or departing from Long Beach and Oakland on or after 15 November 2026. That gives shippers and forwarders booking Swire services into the US West Coast roughly two years of visibility on the change — but no flexibility once the date lands.

For BCOs, the numbers feed straight into landed-cost models. A 40-foot dry move now carries US$700 in THC at each end of the transaction where the codes apply, so importers and exporters should verify whether their rate agreements quote all-in or plus-THC terms. Forwarders rebilling Swire moves will need to update quotations and customer tariffs before the effective date.

For Swire itself, the move follows standard carrier practice of periodically resetting terminal-related charges to reflect port cost inflation at US gateways. Long Beach and Oakland both levy some of the highest terminal handling costs on the Pacific Coast, and carriers routinely pass those costs through rather than absorb them in base ocean freight.

What should shippers do now?

Three practical steps follow from the announcement:

• Check whether existing bookings and long-term contracts quote THCs separately or all-in, and price the delta for 40-foot and reefer equipment.
• Recalculate landed costs for cargo routing via Long Beach or Oakland after mid-November 2026, especially for refrigerated cargo facing the US$750 top rate.
• Compare total door-to-door cost against alternative US West Coast gateways, since THC differentials between ports can shift the economics of a routing.

Swire has set the rates flat across both ports, which simplifies port selection within its California network — the charge is identical whether the box moves through Long Beach or Oakland. Equipment type, not gateway, drives the price.

The effective date of 15 November 2026 gives the market a long runway, but the structure is fixed: US$455 to US$750 per box depending on size and equipment, applied at Long Beach and Oakland on both origin and destination codes. Shippers with Swire routings into California should expect these figures to anchor THC discussions in upcoming contract negotiations.