Where are all
the containers?
Your monthly update
April 2022
Get the latest in:​
• Container Availability Index (CAx) of key ports
• Container prices in major areas​
• Pick-up charges for one-way moves​
• Valuable insights for container users and suppliers
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Contents
April: an overview
•
Lockdown in China unsettles supply chain
•
Impact of inflation in Southeast Asia
•
Russia-Ukraine war continues to affect global trade
•
US struggles with empties and shortage of truckers
•
Latest container prices across regions
Regions: CAx, trading insights, and PU charges for:
•
China​
•
The United States
•
Europe
•
India
•
Middle East & ISC
•
Southeast Asia
Wrapping up the month
•
The most liquid locations
•
Smart container moves
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April: an overview
Lockdown in China unsettles supply chain
Major maritime congestion in China was reported after the country
announced lockdowns after a rise in Covid-19 cases. The number of
vessels waiting at the ports were 195% higher than in February 2022.1
Container shipping is expected to slow to 3% in 2022 globally. Squeezed
capacity and surged tariffs are expected to last till 2023.2
Impact of inflation in Southeast Asia
The impact of inflation in Singapore was seen with banks struggling to
contain surging prices. Along with prices of food, energy and services,
shipping container rates spiked too. Singapore had the third highest rate
for a 40 HC container in the world in April.
Russia-Ukraine war impacting grain export
As the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues, several shipping lanes at the
mouth of the Danube river were shut by Ukrainian border guards in April
due to drifting mines in Black Sea. After Russia’s invasion, most seaports
were blocked. Ukraine is a major agricultural producer and has been now
forced to export by train routes or via its small Danube river ports.
An image of the Shanghai port during the lockdown. Source: Maritime Traffic
US struggles with empties and shortage of truckers
The US, on the other hand, faced a major crisis with empty containers in
April, resulting in a decline in the prices of certain types of containers.
Warehouses struggled with the lack of equipment and the country
continues to be triggered by a massive shortage of trucking capacity. The
US is short of approximately 80,000 drivers at present.
1. https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/ports-logistics/number-containershipswaiting-chinese-ports-doubles
2. https://think.ing.com/articles/container-shipping-volume-growth-calms-tariffsremain-strong/
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April: an overview
Russia-Ukraine war continues to affect global trade:
The EU sources almost half of coal imports from Russia. But
these coal imports are expected to be banned by the EU from
August.3 US, Colombia, South Africa and Australia are being seen
as alternative routes for the Black Sea and Baltic Sea.
Tanker shipping might see a shift in trade flow as the Middle East
is being noticed as an alternative to Russian oil.
The average port congestion did not improve until the last week
of April. This indicates that shipping rates will stay higher than
before.
Maersk said in a trading update in April that container volumes
declined 7% between January and March.4
3. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/07/eu-to-ban-russian-coal-imports-fromaugust-sources-say.html
4. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/2-maersk-says-shipping-boom062658312.html
Average container prices in April:
Price for a 20 DC is highest
in Europe & India:
For a 40 HC, they're
highest in China as usual:
1. Warsaw
2. Milano
3. Mundra:
1. Guangzhou
2. Shenzhen
3. Singapore
$2,670
$2,348
$2,323
$5,249
$4,785
$4,727
April's Top 10 ports with highest change in price
for 20 DC, MoM:
1. Duisburg, DE
2. Dubai, AE
3. New York, NY
4. Rotterdam, NL
5. Savannah, GA
6. Oakland, CA
7. Antwerp, BE
8. Tianjin, CN
9. Houston, TX
10. Qingdao, CN
↓16.8
↓14.4
↑9.7%
↓9.3%
↑9.1%
↓8.0%
↓7.5%
↓7.3%
↓6.9%
↓6.9%
from $2,322 to $1,933
from $2,549 to $2,182
from $1,998 to $2,192
from $2,097 to $1,901
from $1,839 to $2,006
from $2,782 to $2,560
from $2,134 to $1,973
from $2,248 to $2,083
from $1,739 to $1,619
from $2,149 to $2,000
China – Container availability
Bloomberg reported that the total number of container ships in Shanghai’s
port as well as the hub’s shared anchorage with Ningbo was 230 in the third
week of April, a 35% increase from this time last year. 5
The CAx for Shanghai rose to 0.62 by the end of April [week 17] but is
expected to drop slightly in May to 0.59 [week 18-21]. Although for Ningbo,
the CAx dropped below the 0.5 mark at the beginning of the month, only to
rise to 0.51 by the end of it.
What is CAx?
A term coined by xChange, the CAx is a tool used to monitor the
import and export moves of full containers around major ports.
A reading of below 0.5 means more containers leave a port
compared to the number that enter. Above 0.5 means more
containers are entering the port. Click here to find out more.
5. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-04-25/china-s-covid-crisis-threatensglobal-supply-chain-chaos-for-summer- 2022
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China – Container availability
Yantian was on the track of progress until the lockdown.
April marked a shortage of containers at the port. But the
port is showing gradual signs of rising CAx. In the last
week of April, its CAx was 0.43.
Tianjin, on the other hand, lived up to the expectations of
March. It displayed a demand for full imports with a CAx of
0.70 towards the end of the month.
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China – Trading: Container prices
As anticipated by our trading insights, the average price for these
two standard containers (20 DC, 40 HC) in China continued to
decrease slowly in April.
Because of rare container moves during the lockdown, the average
price of 40 HC in Shanghai was $4,451, a drop of 5% week on week.
It’s expected to stabilize in May.
Trade containers in China
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China – Leasing: Pick-up charges
Shanghai has the world’s busiest container port, which has
stayed open during the lockdown. And as the Covid-19 situation
eases this month, container shipping in China is expected to see
a very strong pick up in the next few days.
While pick-up charges for a 40HC and 20DC increased
in March, they have declined in April, with prices at $2,930,
and $1,200 respectively. With no data for 40 DC in April, these
clearly don't seem like a popular choice right now.
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China – Leasing: Pick-up charges
In April, the average PU charge for Europe North continued to
decline to by $300 since March.
Europe Med's leasing rates had gone up in March but April saw a
slight decline of $75.
North-East Asia’s average rate was $2,300 in both February and
March but declined by $100 in April.
For Middle East and ISC, the charges dropped from around $1,000
in February to $460 in April.
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China – Leasing: Pick-up charges
As Bloomberg reported in April, China accounts for about 12% of
global trade. Covid restrictions have halted operations at factories
and warehouses, slowed truck deliveries and exacerbated
container logjams. The U.S. and European ports are already
swamped, leaving them vulnerable to additional shocks.
In the near future, these pile ups will get costlier for the $22 trillion
arena for global merchandise trade, which slumped in 2020 and
rebounded last year.
In April, the drop in the PU charges from China were the lowest this
year. The war and the lockdown both showed their global impact
on trade and container leasing.
Lease containers in China
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The United States – Container availability
The US imports almost 20% of all products and 35% of
electronics from China. A surge in imports into the US is expected
in June or July. The country’s busiest port Los Angeles as well as
the port of Long Beach import about 40% of all containerized
goods into the U.S.
The surge is likely to overwhelm West Coast ports,
which had returned to normal throughput in April. In both these
ports, Q1 was the busiest quarter ever.6
6. https://thediplomat.com/2022/04/chinas-zero-covid-policy-to-renew-uswest-coast-port-congestion/
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The United States – Container availability
In April, both the ports of Houston and New York continued
to face cumbersome amounts of import and congestion. In fact,
Houston reported April as their busiest start to 2022.
New York too faced the pressure of high import volumes and the
number of empty lockouts in April was unprecedented.
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The United States – Container prices
Our analysis shows that in LA, the price of a 40ft HC containers
had fallen from $3,467 in late February 2022 to $2,754 in April
2022.
While 20ft DC containers were at an average price of $1,661 in
April 2022, down from highs of $3,080 late in August 2021.
Trade containers in The US 15
Europe – Container availability
Asia-Europe's supply chain continued to be disrupted in April with severe congestion.
Along with that, Russia’s war with Ukraine impacted the throughput volume at
Europe’s two largest ports, Rotterdam and Antwerp.
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Europe – Container availability
UK and Germany's biggest ports, Felixstowe and Hamburg
respectively, both worked above capacity in April. The ports
struggled to accept more containers due to the lack of storage
space for them.
While Hamburg’s CAx was 0.82 in the last week of April, its CAx
is expected to be 0.79 by the end of May. Felixstowe’s CAx in
April was 0.9.
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Europe – Trading: Container prices
Rotterdam saw an even bigger dip of 3.6% week on week but the
prices might stabilize in May and be within a range of $2,750 $3,055. For the 20 DC though, there hasn’t been a substantial
change and they’re expected to be stable in May as well.
The average price of a 40 HC showed a 3.1% drop week on week
in Antwerp but it’s expected to increase in May and stay within a
range of $2,193-$3,173.
Trade containers in Europe 18
Europe – Leasing: Pick-up charges
Europe currently has a surplus of containers, as well as a
lack of storage space/depots. When leasing from Europe to
these other regions, suppliers will actually pay you in PU credits,
especially when moving boxes back to China.
Leasing rates for the user decreased in April, just like in March.
As a user, you must shrewdly select which Chinese port to export
to. As a supplier though, the low pickup charges are a good
incentive for you to move your containers.
Lease containers in Europe 19
India – Container availability
We noticed more cargo move towards India in April. "This has an
explanation that corroborates well with the macro economic factors.
The Colombo crisis has led to more transshipment containers
being directed to the east coast ports in India," said
Christian Roeloffs, founder and CEO, Container xChange.
Like other eastern ports in India, Chennai exhibited the rise of
inbound containers as well. The port had a CAx of 0.77, which is
expected to be stable in May too.
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India – Trading: Container prices
We noticed that the average shipping container prices eased in India by up to 20%. Key
findings from our analysis show that there has been a general decline in average prices
of 20 DC and 40 HC standard shipping containers across the ports of Chennai, Nhava
Sheva and Mundra till the last week of April.
Trade containers in India 21
Middle East & ISC – Container availability
Pakistan’s container market saw a decline in Q1 of 2022. The
uncertain political situation, growing inflation and Pak Rupee
depreciation have impacted trade in the country. 7 Karachi’s CAx was
0.86 in April.
Jebel Ali (UAE) reportedly handled 3.4 million TEUs in the Q1
of 2022, a decrease of 1.0% year-on-year.8 In the last week
of April, its CAx was 0.58.
7.https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/pakistan-cbank-hikespolicy-rate-by-250bps-1225-emergency-meeting-2022-04-07/
8. https://container-news.com/dp-world-exceeds-19-million-teu-in-firstquarter/
Middle East & ISC – Trading: Container prices
Prices for 40 HC in this region continued to decrease in April,
while they rose for 20 DC, with the exception of Dubai.
Dubai’s prices saw an exponential decline in April – from $2,549
to $2,182 – especially for a 20 DC.
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Southeast Asia – Container availability
The CAx in Singapore, Asia's third largest trade hub, rose to 0.62
in the last week of April. This rise was amid the inflation that the
country is facing right now.
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Wrapping up the month
The most liquid locations:
(i.e., high quantity and ease of business)
Trading (until April 22):
•
20 DC containers cheapest in
Chicago, LA and Houston
•
40 DC containers cheapest in
Antwerp, LA and Savannah
•
40 HC containers cheapest in
Chicago, Toronto and Houston
Great profit options?
Trading
•
Good time to buy containers in Chennai because the average price of a
40 ft HC container in the port has dropped by 16% since January 2022
•
Xeneta reported that for a 40 DC container, the spot rate from the Far East
to North Europe was $11,100 per FEU. The same to the Mediterranean was
$13,100 on April 26, 2022. This means that it’s $2,000 cheaper to move the
box to North Europe compared to the Mediterranean when importing it
from the Far East.
Leasing
•
As a user, consider a one-way move from China to
Europe where the pick-up charges are much lower than
usual
Buy / Lease containers on xChange now 25
Wrapping up the month
Smart container moves next week?​​
•
In April, Antwerp and Bruges merged their port companies to
form what they claim is Europe’s largest export port. They aim to
leverage the neighboring ports’ strengths in ro-ro, chemical, and
container traffic.​​
•
As the lockdown in China and the Russia-Ukraine war continue,
consider moving your containers to Europe via alternative routes
that avoid Shanghai, Russia and Ukraine.
•
After the lockdown is over and export resumes, a large volume
of vessels will head to the U.S. West Coast ports. This means,
the waiting time will increase. Consider moving your boxes to
the southern coasts, like Houston. Or find ways to avoid
demurrage and detention costs by finding SOCs on xChange.
Watch out for:
•
The upcoming labor negotiations in the US
between the port workers’ body International
Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and
the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) are
reported to start from May 12, 2022. It can
have serious implications for container
logistics. Plan ahead as a pile up of containers
is expected.
•
China will have a five-day period of labor day
holidays starting from April 30, 2022. Expect
shortage of workforce in warehouses, freight
forwarding and trucking companies.
Buy / Lease containers on xChange now 26
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