Race for containers continues
It is the time of major coups: Hapag-Lloyd has ordered 60,000 teu of standard containers from China. The Hamburg-based shipping company has decided to push its container fleet to a total of 210,000 teu, while the sharp increase in demand has led to a shortage of boxes across the world.
Severe imbalances – such as with exports from Asia, but also owing to congestion in ports and delays in hinterland transports – are causing containers to be tied up in transit for considerably longer periods of time. More boxes are currently needed overall to manage the same transport volume.
The first of the new set of boxes will complement those currently being produced and are scheduled to be delivered to Hapag-Lloyd as early as July 2021.
The majority will be subsequently delivered in Q3/2021. In April of this year, Hapag-Lloyd had already announced orders for a total of around 150,000 teu of standard and reefer containers. (cd)