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Container Availability Index (CAx) reading of incoming containers across Chinese main ports is up 56% compared to before the Chinese New Year (CNY) holidays
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CAx at Shanghai port has increased 64% for 20-foot dry containers and 112% for 40-foot dry containers
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Other Chinese ports such as Qingdao, Dalian, and Ningbo are also great alternatives to Shanghai
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Dalian improved its post-CNY index values the most and now has the highest equipment availability of the three ports
The availability of containers in China has improved after the Chinese New Year, breaking the trend of months of crippling shortages, according to Container xChange.
The container leasing and trading platform’s Container Availability Index (CAx) reading of incoming containers across Chinese main ports is currently up 56% compared to before the Chinese New Year (CNY) holidays which started on February 11.
At Shanghai, the biggest Chinese box port, the CAx has increased 64% for 20-foot dry containers when comparing pre- and post-CNY container availability.
For 40-foot dry containers, the increase is even more stark, with box availability improving 112% over the same period.
Johannes Schlingmeier, CEO of Container xChange, said that even though many factories continued operations through the Lunar New Year due to high demand for exports, the drop in output, even if less than normal, as trade slowed for the holidays was enough to allow the container supply/demand imbalance to narrow.
In CAx, an index reading of below 0.5 means more containers leave a port compared to the number that enters. Above 0.5 means more containers are entering the port.
“One week of index values greater than 0.5 does not mean so much but exceeding the 0.5 marks for several weeks in a row like Shanghai and other main ports in China have done means that finally more containers are entering ports regularly, giving them the chance to allow the container supply/demand imbalance to reduce,” said Schlingmeier.
For exporters who continue to struggle with finding the right equipment, other Chinese ports such as Qingdao, Dalian, and Ningbo are great alternatives to Shanghai, he added.
Dalian, with the highest equipment availability of the three ports, shows the highest post-CNY index values with 0.79 for 20-foot dry containers and 0.80 for 40-foot dry containers—up 17% and 27%, respectively, since the pre-CNY period.
At Qingdao, 20-foot dry and 40-foot dry post-CNY container availability readings on the CAx are 0.64 and 0.65, up from 0.42 and 0.39 during the pre-CNY period.
Container prices confirm the positive trend. After record highs for used container boxes in January of US$5,593 for cargo-worthy containers, prices fell to $3,750 in February.
“These prices are still far higher than buyers usually pay for newly built containers, but this is still good news for companies who export from China,” said Schlingmeier.
“With so many supply chain disruptions still evident, we expect container availability in China and elsewhere to remain volatile. But thus far in 2021 there are positive signs that availability at key export hubs is improving.”
Photo by Marqueed
