Surplus containers are not easily found in the busy port of Shanghai, but due to the US-China trade war, we may be looking at a small surplus of 40 HC containers in the coming weeks. This is according to analysis and a new container index (CAx) created by German company Container xChange.
For 20 DCs and 40 DCs containers in Shanghai, the CAx forecasts a deficit with a value of less than 0.5 which is nothing unusual for ports in China with high demand in containers.
However the situation changes when you look at European ports, such as Rotterdam, which usually have a surplus of containers.
The index confirms the equipment situation in Rotterdam and forecasts available 40HCs (CAx: 0.8), but a deficit of 40 DCs (CAx: 0.31) and 20 DCs (CAx: 0.48). The deficit of 20DCs is particularly surprising in Rotterdam!
If you compare the availability of containers in 2018 and 2019 in the graphics attached to the article you see that the trend last year was in the opposite direction.
Understanding the CAx Index:
The index can have values between 0 and 1 where 1 stands for an absolute overhang, 0.5 for a balance between supply and demand, and 0 indicates an absolute undersupply of free equipment. The CAx is based on millions of containers tracked and moved through the neutral online platform.
Source: ContainerxChange
https://container-xchange.com/features/cax/
