Container shipping shows good growth
Container Trade Statistics, a service that collects statistics, estimated container shipping and demand for it. The total sector was estimated at 14.9 million TEUs, which is 2.6% higher than last year. In turn, this figure is 5.8% higher than what was observed in the market before the impact of the pandemic.
The rate index continues to increase as well, but now there are almost no sharp jumps in growth. The index now stands at 185 points, up from 81 points last year.
The volume of imports in Europe was 2.87 million TEU, an increase over the previous period was at 3%. At the same time, the volume of container exports decreased by 8% and was recorded at the level of 2.47 million TEU. Despite the decline compared to last year, compared to pre-pandemic rates, the current figure is higher by 10%.
Shipments to North America last month totaled 3 million TEUs, 6% more than imports in the same period last year. Compared to 2019, there is a 33% increase.
Container imports to Asia reached pre-pandemic levels of 5.74 million TEUs. As for exports, it amounted to 9 million TEU – an increase of 1.5% compared to last year.
The container shipping market is an important part of the global economy. Therefore, any fluctuations in this sector are felt in every region. In 2020, during the pandemic, the market experienced a decline in consumer demand, but afterward, it began to actively recover and reached record levels by the end of 2021. The tariff for sending a single container from Asia to Europe increased by about 10 times compared to 2020, and from Shanghai to Los Angeles by 6 times. At the same time, the supply chain is still unstable, causing confusion for ports and transport companies. New norms and rules for the segment, especially those dealing with ship downtime in ports, need to be thought through in order to eliminate the problem.
According to forecasts, the crisis will last for a long time, while the demand will significantly exceed the supply. Besides, the regulators are actively working to reduce the rates, thoroughly investigating the situation.
Now there is an acute shortage of capacity for cargo transportation. Orders for new vessels will be fulfilled only in 2-3 years, but even a sufficient number of container ships at the moment would not save the situation.
