Shanghai, the world’s largest boxport, has launched a new empty container transportation centre in a bid to help solve the industry’s extreme container shortage.
The new centre is based at the Yangshan Special Comprehensive Bonded Zone and is something created by leading liners in cooperation with Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG).
Lack of available containers as a result of Covid precautions and soaring consumer demand in the US has created severe global supply chain difficulties this year with containers becoming a prized commodity. Prices of dry freight shipping containers have doubled over the past year to reach historic highs.
The Container Census & Leasing Annual Review and Forecast 2021/22 report recently published by UK consultants Drewry stated that “insatiable demand for equipment raised utilization across all equipment types to over 99 percent by the second quarter of 2021, its highest level on record.”
