Container output reached 521,000 teu last month – a post-Covid peak, according to Linerlytica today, reports The Loadstar.
Liner panic
Its report adds that all manufacturing slots in container factories are reserved until the end of July, with more than 4m teu of new boxes expected to be delivered this year – more than double the 1.97m teu produced in 2023.
Container production achieved a record high in 2021, with more than 6m teu built to meet the demand caused by the slow return of empty containers during the pandemic.
Its report shows that so far this year, of the mainline operators MSC has ordered the most containers, just under 400,000 teu, followed by ONE and Evergreen.
Last week, Cosco Shipping Development (CSD), the holding company for Dong Fang Container, the world’s second-largest box manufacturer, and equipment lessor Florens, suggested at a post-results briefing that container demand was expected to stabilize this year after demand plunged in 2023.
In Q1 24, CSD’s net profit of CNY447m ($61.91m) was up 12% on Q1 23, as demand recovered. In contrast, net profit last year fell 64% year on year, to CNY1.41bn.
Dong Fang has no dry container slots available until after August, while reefers are all booked until July.
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Source: The Loadstar
