There has been a 20% decline in trading and leasing prices of containers from March to April, 2022, in India, as per the latest container logistics report by Container xChange. Additionally, the decline in container prices can be traced across the globe in countries such as China, the US, Europe, the Middle East, Indian Subcontinent, and Asia. The report shows that India had seen an ease of 20% in average prices of 20 dry cargo (DC) and 40 high cube (HC) standard shipping containers across the ports of Chennai, Nhava Sheva and Mundra, till the last week of April.

The disruptions have led to uncertainties in the supply chain, Christian Roeloffs, co-founder and CEO, Container xChange, said. “However, it does seem like we have now reached the peak container turnaround times. The container demand versus supply has reached balance levels and that will mean that prices will also taper off a little bit while probably not falling steeply as is evident in the report. Beyond this, it depends on the disruptions. Once China resumes operations in full swing, there will be a pent-up demand for containers as we have season coming. This will cause a traffic jam of vessels and the demand for containers will rise causing container prices to rise again (in mid-term),” he added.

Insights from the report showed an 18% decline in average container prices from $4706 (INR 3,64,600) in January to $3909 (INR 3,02,852) in the first week of May, at the Nhava Sheva port. Mundra saw a 9% drop from $4740 (INR 3,67,234) on February 24 to $4269 (INR 3,30,743) on May 3, and Chennai saw an 18% drop in prices for 40 ft HC cargo worthy containers.

“In the long run, however, this pent-up demand for containers will eventually ease because we hope that the disruptions will end. Then, we can expect that there will be an excess of containers leading to container prices stabilising or even will fall again,” Roeloffs further stated.

As per the Container Availability Index (CAx) values, Chennai exhibited a rise in inbound containers to 0.77 on week 16 and is expected to retain this level throughout May. The rise in CAx value is an indication of the increasing accumulation of containers, carriers missing calls, or a rise in blank sailings while outbound containers are not being transported at the same rate.

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