Supply/demand balance at 2019 level as container volumes fall 4.6% y/y
13 October 2022Since July 2020, the container market has benefitted from a surge in consumption of goods compared to pre-COVID levels, and head-haul and regional trade volumes have followed. Compared to the same period of 2019, container volumes in the second half of 2020 were up 5.7% while full year 2021 volumes were 9.0% higher. Volumes in the first half of 2022 were up 8.3%, also compared with H1 2019. Despite a growing fleet, capacity supply was unable to keep up as port congestion absorbed as much as 14% of the fleet, data from Sea-Intelligence shows.