THE past 18 months have proved particularly challenging for Chinese box builders with the production of dry freight standard containers, especially 40ft high-cubes, falling sharply.
After the surge in output of 2021, container manufacturers have been faced with high levels of inflation globally and the economic uncertainty has dampened trading prospects and hence the demand for new containers. The industry is also still dealing with the oversupply of containers that built up over the Covid crisis.
On the basis of production in the first nine months of this year, output for the full year is expected to be the lowest since 2010, when just 450,000 TEU were produced.
While 2023 will not see production plunge to that level, output this year is only expected to be in the 1.3-1.5 million TEU range, down from over 3.8 million TEU in 2022 and 7.1 million TEU in 2021.
However, output of newbuild specials has bucked the trend with demand relatively strong for open-tops and flatrack containers. Partly, this is related to owners ordering fewer of these types of containers during the Covid scare, when the focus was on buying 40ft high-cube equipment.
In addition, a growing number of ageing open-tops and flatracks need to be replaced and demand to move breakbulk and project modules by container is growing, particularly for cargo associated with the renewables energy industries.
from: shippingazette