Capacity reduction, "a container is hard to find" again? Many ports responded
From mid-December to the present, the situation in the Red Sea continues to be tense, and many shipping companies have begun to bypass the Cape of Good Hope. As a result, global shipping is caught in the worry of rising freight rate volatility and unstable supply chain.
Due to the capacity adjustment of the Red Sea route, which in turn triggered a chain reaction in the global supply chain. The shortage of boxes has also become the focus of attention in the industry.
According to shipping consultancy Vespucci Maritime previously released data, before the Chinese New Year, the arrival of container boxes in Asian ports will be reduced by 780,000 TEU (international unit of 20-foot containers) than before.
Industry analysts analyze that there are three main reasons for the lack of box problem. First, the Red Sea situation has led to the European route of the ships have bypassed the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, a substantial increase in sailing time, the container turnover rate with the ship transport has also declined, drifting in the sea more boxes, onshore ports available containers will be in short supply.
According to shipping analysts Sea-Intelligence predicted that due to the detour around the Cape of Good Hope, the shipping industry has reduced the effective capacity of 1.45 million - 1.7 million TEU, accounting for 5.1% - 6% of the total global capacity.
The second reason for the shortage of containers in Asia is the circulation of containers. Industry analysts said that the container is mainly made in China, Europe and the United States is the main consumer market, in the face of the current situation of the European line of the bypass, the container from Europe and the United States back to China's time is greatly extended, which in turn reduces the number of boxes in the shipment.
In addition, the Red Sea crisis inspired by the European and American market panic stocking demand is also one of the reasons. The continuous tension of the Red Sea situation makes customers increase safety stock and shorten replenishment cycle. This further increases the pressure of supply chain tension, and the shortage of boxes will be highlighted.
The severity of the container shortage and the subsequent challenges were already unfolding a few years ago.
With the blockage of the Suez Canal in 2021, coupled with the impact of the epidemic, the global supply chain pressure soared, and "one container is hard to find" became one of the most prominent issues in the shipping industry at that time.
At that time, container production became one of the most important solutions. CIMC, as a global leader in container manufacturing, adjusted its production plan to sell 2,511,300 TEU of general dry cargo containers in 2021, which is 2.5 times of the 2020 sales volume.
However, since the spring of 2023, the global supply chain gradually recovered, the lack of demand for maritime transportation, the problem of container surplus emerged, and the piling up of containers at ports became a new nuisance.
With the continued impact of the Red Sea situation on shipping, superimposed on the upcoming Spring Festival holiday, what is the current domestic container situation? Some industry insiders said that at present has not encountered a particular shortage of containers, just almost close to the balance of supply and demand.
And according to a number of domestic port news, at present, east China, north China port terminal empty container situation is stable, in a state of supply and demand balance. But there are also southern China ports responsible person said that some box type such as 40HC have shortage, but not very serious.
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