According to new analysis from Danish consultancy Sea-Intelligence, trade imbalances have pushed the share of empty container shipments to record levels, with almost one in every three containers now moved without cargo \u2013 a sharp deterioration from one in four before the pandemic.
This was interesting news for the U-Freight Group, which offers international container shipping services for both LCL and FCL cargoes.
Measured in teu-miles, 30% of all global container shipping work now involves repositioning empty boxes, up from 24% pre-pandemic. The number of empty containers shipped has grown 65% since the first quarter of 2019, while the number of full containers has grown just 17% over the same period. Total demand, measured in teu-miles, has grown 40%.
In practical terms, Sea-Intelligence calculates that carriers are now moving double the volume of empty containers \u2013 measured by distance \u2013 compared with before the pandemic.
The analysis points directly to widening global trade imbalances as the driver. Where cargo flows are unequal between regions, carriers are obliged to reposition empty equipment to where demand requires it, absorbing both the cost and the capacity to do so.
Sea-Intelligence warned the trend has direct consequences for freight rates. \u201cThe added cost of these imbalances will result in increased costs \u2013 and hence freight rates \u2013 for the head-haul shippers,\u201d the consultancy concluded, noting that it is the shippers on the high-volume lanes who ultimately bear the expense of repositioning the industry\u2019s growing surplus of empty boxes.
The findings underscore a growing structural challenge for liner shipping, where the efficiency gains achieved through larger vessels and network optimisation are increasingly being offset by the cost of managing global trade imbalances.
U-Freight continues to monitor developments in global container shipping lanes closely. We remain committed to supporting customers with reliable, flexible transport solutions across air, sea and multimodal services, helping navigate route changes and maintain resilience in international supply chains.
For expert advice or further information on our ocean freight services, please contact your local U-Freight office or visit the ocean freight section of this website.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to new analysis from Danish consultancy Sea-Intelligence, trade imbalances have pushed the share of empty container shipments to record levels, with almost one in every three containers now moved without cargo \u2013 a sharp deterioration from one in four before the pandemic. This was interesting news for the U-Freight Group, which offers international container…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3595,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n