German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd revealed plans for one of largest investments for boxes in company history, in a bid to help alleviate a current container shortage globally.
As explained, on top of the pandemic and delayed shipments due to port congestion, shippers and forwarders worldwide have had to cope with an additional complication of box shortage to ship their goods. The fact is that because boxes are turning slower, shipping companies need more than the normal number of containers to carry the same volume.
Therefore, the company said it will invest a combined total of USD 550 million for 150,000 TEU of new dry and reefer boxes, continuing from 2020, in its initial response to the pandemic.
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Some of the 150,000 TEU of reefer boxes have already been delivered this year and integrated into Hapag-Lloyd’s container fleet. But the majority of these boxes will be delivered by Chinese manufacturers in the months ahead and before the end of 2021. What’s more, Hapag-Lloyd has ordered 8,000 TEU of special containers to be used for over-sized and dangerous goods.
The container shipping industry is currently seeing unprecedented demand, which has led to a shortage of containers all over the world. With its recent container orders, Hapag-Lloyd is contributing to efforts to ease the current situation and will be able to offer its customers a much better service.
..says Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd.
The global container shortage caused by the pandemic has significantly disrupted international trade, with research suggesting that transportation cost has increased from about $1,500 to $6,000-$9,000 per container in February 2021, while also driving up new containers’ prices.
