- CAx January readings show greater congestion at ports in China as compared to last three years; indicating more containers available in China
- Operators expect demand revival post Lunar New Year, average one-way leasing pickup rates for second-hand containers increase by max 40% on China to Europe & China to US trade laneAs China reopens after three long years of Zero-covid policy, early Lunar New Year and COVID infections kept the overall market bearish, but the January month’s global container trading and leasing data from Container xChange, an online container logistics platform, indicates that the container traders and operators expect a demand rebound into the month of February.
Early indicators already show container operators expecting a demand bounce back—as the pickup charges from China to Europe Med for 40 ft High cube containers have increased by 9.7% from $513 in week 1 to $563 in week 5.
Source: xChange Insights (a subscription-only real-time data tool for container logistics companies)
Similarly, average prices for 40 ft high cube containers increased from $3662 in week 1 in China, and increased by 3.6% to $3794 in week 5. Though the increase is not significant, the fact that the downward trajectory has reversed is a good sign for many in the industry.
