Drewry on the flow of new containers
In its latest report, "Container Census & Leasing Annual Review & Forecast 2022/23", London-based maritime research consultancy Drewry estimates that congestion across global supply chains means that containers were 15 to 20% less productive than in pre-Covid times. Even a surplus of currently six million teu globally did not turn the tide.
"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," commented John Fossey, Drewry's head of container equipment. In addition, the commissioning of newbuilds will push the development further. Fossey expects "slot capacity...to increase by 3.6 million teu in 2023 and by over 3.9 million teu in 2024."
The production sites in China as the main basis of manufacturers are operating at full speed: while container output surged to 300,000 teu per month in Q4/2020, Chinese container manufacturers had extended their normal working hours from eight hours to eleven hours a day.
Despite this growth rate, Drewry considers this surplus to be manageable in the longer term, since output in 2022 and 2023 will be much lower than last year - at 3.9 million teu this year and 2.4 million teu next year. (sh)