THE container manufacturing arm of AP Moller-Maersk, Maersk Container Industry (MCI), is forecasting that reefer volumes will grow by four to five per cent this year, compared with one per cent demand growth last year.
Reefer boxes set to increase 9pc in 2014: Maersk Container IndustryTHE container manufacturing arm of AP Moller-Maersk, Maersk Container Industry (MCI), is forecasting that reefer volumes will grow by four to five per cent this year, compared with one per cent demand growth last year.
This comes as production of forty-foot, high-cube reefers will be ramped up nine per cent, or 10,000 boxes more, than the estimated 110,000 units produced last year.
Said MCI sales chief Soren Leth Johannsen: "Based on these indicators, we conservatively estimate that the total market will reach 120,000 reefers in 2014."
The company is the second-largest manufacturer of both reefer containers and reefer machinery.
According to Netherlands-based consultancy Dynamar, the global reefer container fleet reached 2.3 million TEU in 2013 and, at nearly 900 million cubic feet, reefer container capacity exceeds conventional space by a factor of 4.5, reported Lloyd's List.
A return to higher reefer production would be in line with a general increase in dry container equipment assets, with an estimated 2.4 million TEU produced last year.
Top lessor TAL purchased 300,000 TEU for delivery in 2013, while Textainer saw a 9.6 per cent increase in its dry and reefer fleet to three million TEU.
According to reefer industry sources, there is agreement with MCI's general view that the reefer market this year will be "stronger and more stable" than last.
Rates appear to be hovering around the $4.50 per diem level for a typical five year, long-term lease on a newbuild 40ft high cube reefer on direct delivery from China.
Industry insiders say that Mediterranean Shipping Co has booked 10,000 leased reefer units, seen as the biggest single deal since Maersk Line stepped back from purchasing newbuilds after boldly raising reefer rates by $1,500 a box from January 2013.
MCI is looking to a major modal shift in the longer term, in a bid to capture some air cargo volumes due to the development of an advanced air cleaning system that has been fitted in its Star Cool Integrated refrigerated containers.
The Bluezone patented technology has been proven in test and trials to be "an efficient eliminator of moulds, fungi and bacteria."