PUBLISHER: Container News (container-news.com)
The global pool of shipping containers increased by 13% to almost 50 million TEU in 2021, which was three times prior growth trend, according to maritime research consultancy Drewry.
Drewry’s recently published Container Census & Leasing Annual Review & Forecast 2022/23 report says that this reflected lessors and ocean carriers ordering a record number of containers, while retiring fewer ageing units, as congestion across global supply chains meant containers were an estimated 15% to 20% less productive than in pre-Covid period.
Drewry estimates that each container averaged 18.1 lifts in 2021 compared with 19.2 in 2020 and between 19.5 and 20.6 in the 2010s. Furthermore, Drewry noted that the number of containers per slot of vessel capacity increased by 8% in 2020 when the pandemic started and remained at this level throughout 2021.