Sea-Intelligence reports that compared to 2019,The number of empty containers has grown steadily by 20% in recent months (Excludes pandemic fluctuations).
The company estimated the movement of empty containers to investigate how the widening imbalance affected the work required to reposition empty containers.
Alan Murphy, CEO of Sea-Intelligence, said: "While assessing volume in TEU alone may be an acceptable measure of market behavior, as the operating expenses associated with empty haulage are primarily related to port handling costs, it can be argued that TEU * miles are a superior measure as it is the best measure of full containers.
This is because the distance traveled is important for assessing container demand and can appear incongruous if we don't measure empty containers in the same way. ”
Essentially, the evolution of measuring empty transport by TEU* miles is no different from measuring by TEU. Marine intelligence raises the question of how this relates to the increase in fully loaded containers.
Compared to 2019, the global TEU increased by 25%, TEU mileage increased by 42%。In terms of first-leg transportation alone, the TEU growth rate in December 2023 was 78% and 8% TEU mileage growth.
Backhaul** is expanding at two and a half times the rate of FCL sales, indicating a significant increase in demand for empty containers.
According to Marine Intelligence, this means that the actual cost of transporting first-leg containers has increased, and first-leg shippers will have to bear the growing cost of transporting empty containers in the future.
In February, Sea-Intelligence assessed the impact of the 2024 Red Sea crisis on a possible transformation of the liner network to adopt the Rim-Africa route.