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With the vast increase being seen in container availability, Shanghai appears on its way back to normal levels
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Major hubs across Asia like Singapore, Nhava Sheva and Port Klang are also showing the the same upward trend
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Chinese container factories are now working at full production and shipping lines are aggressively repositioning empties back to China
After a rough 2020, the severe container shortage seen at some Asian ports, especially last December, has been gradually easing and could maintain normal levels this month, according to online platform Container xChange.
The Container Availability Index for China’s busiest port at Shanghai nearly tripled to 0.37 for a standard forty-foot container in the third week of January from a nadir of 0.13 in December, where any reading below 0.5 indicates a container shortage, the container repositioning platform said.
Although demand for empty containers in Shanghai remains greater than supply, this is a normal result of the port’s huge export volume. Shanghai averaged a Container Availability Index reading of 0.38 in 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic upended container shipping markets, Container xChange said.
“With a growth of 37.5% for 40HCs and even 200% for 40DCs in January compared to December 2020, the Container Availability Index finally shows a positive trend for shippers and forwarders who are looking for equipment in Shanghai,” said David Amezquita, head of data insights at the platform.
“With the vast increase we’re seeing in the container availability, Shanghai is on its way back to normal levels,” Container xChange said. “A similar development is happening across other ports in China. Qingdao, for instance, even reaches index values of 0.5 for standard equipment—which represents a balanced equipment situation.”
For some of the major hubs across Asia like Singapore, Nhava Sheva and Port Klang the Container Availability Index showed the same trend. Compared to December 2020, container availability was up 58% in Singapore, 35% in Nhava Sheva and 54% in Port Klang across standard container types in January 2021.
“Chinese container factories now work at full production. And due to the aggressive repositioning of empties back to China by the shipping lines, Chinese New Year stands to become the turning point of equipment shortage,” Container xChange said.
The positive container availability trend for Shanghai proves that actions taken by the shipping lines are working, it said. “The aggressive repositioning, which has grown by +125% in December on the online platform Container xChange, and the increased number of newly built containers contribute to normal availability levels again.”
Photo by Lucas van Oort on Unsplash
