Up to 6 million TEU of container equipment surplus globally

Total global pool of shipping containers increased 13% to nearly 50 million teu in 2021, tripling the previous growth trend. This reflects lessors and container shipping lines ordering a record number of containers, while disposing of less old containers. This is due to the congested global supply chains, containers were reduced productive by 15% to 20% lower than before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Drewry’s Container Census & Leasing Annual Review & Forecast 2022/23 Report recently published.

Drewry estimates that each container has an average of 18.1 lifts in 2021 compared with 19.2 lifts in 2020 and between 19.5 and 20.6 lifts in 2010. Furthermore, the number of containers per slot of vessel capacity increased by 8% in 2020 when the pandemic started and remained at this level throughout 2021.

Drewry estimates that there is currently up to 6 million teu of surplus containers in container yards globally. While this is a huge surplus of containers compared to the past, Drewry thinks this surplus container equipment is manageable for the industry.

John Fossey, Drewry's head of container equipment research, said: "The delivery schedule of new ships is very strong with slot capacity expected to increase by 3.6m teu in 2023 and by over 3.9m teu in 2024.” “With new IMO emissions regulations coming into force in January 2023 forcing some ships to sail slower, much of the surplus equipment currently in service is expected to be absorbed. In addition, there is evidence to suggest that some carriers are planning to have more buffer stock in their equipment pools, while fewer new containers will be built in the next two years”.

Drewry forecasts container throughput in 2022 and 2023 will be much lower than last year, at 3.9 million teu and 2.4 million teu respectively. Despite the decline in new and used container prices, a return to 2019's very low prices is predicted to be unlikely as manufacturers are expected to manage capacity and pricing strategies very carefully. Meanwhile, the secondary market remains strong and the resale of containers continues to expand.

“Looking ahead, ocean carriers will be the main buyers of equipment over the next two years with lessors then taking control again, raising their share of the pool to 54% by 2026,” added Fossey. “Moreover, per diem rates and investment cash returns will generally be higher over the forecast period than in the past five years.”

Read more:

• 10.5% of global container fleet capacity impacted due to port congestion
• Global supply chain bottlenecks due to lack of containers still remain
• Global supply chain disruption expected through 2022
• Port congestion getting worse as entering 2022 - Sea-Intel

Source: Phaata.com (According to Splash247)

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