SUPER slow steaming is taking some of the pressure off ocean carriers as they absorb newbuild ULCVs into existing service loops, but their equipment surpluses are proving to be more of a challenge.
Carriers faced with huge storage bills from depots, for their mountains of empty container stocks around the world, are looking to retire ageing owned containers to the second-hand market and return as much equipment as possible back to leasing companies, reports London's Loadstar.
But both strategies are taxing the skills of their equipment controllers as the second-hand market is itself swamped with surplus equipment, while the leasing companies enjoy an average for unexpired lease agreements of about five years.
While chronic port congestion soaked up an estimated 15 per cent more tonnage during the high demand periods of 2021 and the first half of 2022, a vicious circle of landside congestion, full depots and oversubscribed empty stacking areas on terminals stymied the repositioning flow of containers back to Asia.
To overcome this artificial shortfall in equipment, carriers leased more containers and placed orders for new boxes.
However, with the unwinding of supply chain congestion, shipping lines are now endeavouring to rationalize their equipment fleets to pre-pandemic levels or just above, reflecting the normalization in demand.
Moreover, as freight rates across the major tradelanes are some 80 per cent lower, carriers are totally focused on reducing costs, of which slashing obese container pools is a prime target.
Meanwhile, Drewry's latest container equipment assessment said that container manufacturing is likely to see a slump to its lowest level for 14 years.
Nevertheless, Drewry is more optimistic for a return to growth in the sector in 2024 and beyond, driven by the huge orderbook of newbuild tonnage being delivered and said it expected output production to double next year.
SeaNews Turkey
Carriers faced with huge storage bills from depots, for their mountains of empty container stocks around the world, are looking to retire ageing owned containers to the second-hand market and return as much equipment as possible back to leasing companies, reports London's Loadstar.
But both strategies are taxing the skills of their equipment controllers as the second-hand market is itself swamped with surplus equipment, while the leasing companies enjoy an average for unexpired lease agreements of about five years.
While chronic port congestion soaked up an estimated 15 per cent more tonnage during the high demand periods of 2021 and the first half of 2022, a vicious circle of landside congestion, full depots and oversubscribed empty stacking areas on terminals stymied the repositioning flow of containers back to Asia.
To overcome this artificial shortfall in equipment, carriers leased more containers and placed orders for new boxes.
However, with the unwinding of supply chain congestion, shipping lines are now endeavouring to rationalize their equipment fleets to pre-pandemic levels or just above, reflecting the normalization in demand.
Moreover, as freight rates across the major tradelanes are some 80 per cent lower, carriers are totally focused on reducing costs, of which slashing obese container pools is a prime target.
Meanwhile, Drewry's latest container equipment assessment said that container manufacturing is likely to see a slump to its lowest level for 14 years.
Nevertheless, Drewry is more optimistic for a return to growth in the sector in 2024 and beyond, driven by the huge orderbook of newbuild tonnage being delivered and said it expected output production to double next year.
SeaNews Turkey
