Container prices fall in India amidst global supply chain disruptions, container trade optimism for shipping companies

New Delhi [India], April 27 (ANI/PR Newswire): Container xChange, the world's leading neutral marketplace for shipping containers and a technology logistics infrastructure company, released the findings of its container logistics analysis for the Indian container logistics market.
Key findings from the analysis show that there has been a general decline in average prices of 20 ft DC and 40 ft HC standard shipping containers across the ports of Chennai, Nhava Sheva and Mundra from Mid-January 2022 till date, after having peaked in the months of August- September 2021.
However, the prices are much higher than the prices from January 2021 (40 per cent higher in Chennai, 36 per cent higher in Nhava Sheva and 36 per cent in Mundra for 40 ft HC containers). The average prices have increased by 41 per cent from USD 1341 on 1st January 2021 to USD 2269 as on April 23 2022 at the port of Nhava Sheva for 20 ft DC cargo-worthy container.

The average price of 40 ft HC container in Chennai were USD 5127 in mid-January 2022 which fell to USD 4297 on April 18, 2022. A fall of 16 per cent since January 17, 2022.

Another key finding is the rise in Container Availability Index (CAx) values from week 14 (April 4 till date). The CAx (Container Availability Index) is a tool that allows container logistics businesses to monitor the import and export moves of full containers around major ports. A CAx value of 0.5 means that the same number of containers leave and enter a port in the same week. CAx values of 0.5 means that more containers enter and CAx values of < 0.5 means more containers leave a specific port.

CAx values rise when there are more inbounds than outbounds and if the CAx values maintain at a higher level, then that means that there is a problem of containers piling up, or there is a rise in blank sailings or carriers missing calls at the Indian ports while the containers that are transported are not moving out back at the same speed.

"This has an explanation that corroborates well with the macro-economic factors. The Colombo crisis has led to more transshipment containers being directed to the east coast ports in India," said Christian Roeloffs, founder and CEO, Container xChange.
Industry data available from the Indian ports also indicates that there has been a rise in the container throughput volumes by ports, namely, JNPT, Chennai and Adani (Mundra) ports. (See notes section for data)
Commenting on India's state of the container logistics market, Christian Roeloffs, founder and CEO, Container xChange said, "The crisis in Colombo, a major transhipment hub for Indian cargo, has led to more traffic of containers at the Indian ports. For India to leverage the opportunities presented by the global supply chain dysfunction, it is important to improve the cargo handling capabilities at India's ports, build stronger hinterland transportation and must attempt to bring down the logistical costs. It is very encouraging to see that the average turnaround time for container vessels at major ports has improved which will benefit trade in times to come."
However, there are other bottlenecks that need addressal. According to a joint report conducted by Container xChange and Fraunhofer - CML, one of the world's leading applied research organizations earlier this year (January), the average median time containers spent in Indian depots in 2021 was 22 days, while in China it was just 5 days. This is one of the many bottlenecks that shippers face when exporting cargo filled containers from India.
"I do believe that India can benefit greatly from e-commerce and technology that brings massive visibility into the supply chain process that will in turn help the industry to better manage the ports, hinterland transportation, container movement, depot management, etc. It is not so much about reinventing the wheel for the country, but about how the industry can better benefit from the technology and inventory already there in the global value chains, at least in the short to mid-term," said Roeloffs.
Amongst the Indian ports, Mundra has the costliest 40 HC cargo worthy containers {Ranks #3 worldwide after Warsaw (USD 2670) and Milano (USD 2348)}, at USD 4269 as on 26 April 2022 followed by Nhava Sheva (USD 4261) and Chennai (USD 4247). Mundra has the costliest 20 ft DC container at USD 2311 as on 26 April 2022 followed by Nhava Sheva (USD 2268) and Chennai (USD 2259).
Notes to the editor-
JN port container total (TEU) - March'22 515472
Cumulative traffic (April to March) handled in FY 2021-22 is 5684559 TUEs as compared to 46,76,831 in the FY 2020-21, a growth of 21.55 per cent.
Mundra (Adani port) Container volumes at 2.1 mn TEUs in Q3 FY22, same as Q3 FY21
9M container volume increased by 25 per cent from FY21 to FY22 from 4.9 mn TEUs to 6.2 mn TEUs
According to the Indian Ports association, the container traffic handled at the major ports in India was 11,222,000 tonnes TEUs from April to March 2022, up from 96,13,000 TEUs April-March 2021, an increase of 16.74 per cent year on year from 2021 to 2022.
The Container Availability Index monitors and forecasts global container equipment supply by tracking millions of monthly container moves. For more information and weekly email updates, check out: https://container-xchange.com/features/cax/
In Container xChange's Container Availability Index (CAx) an index reading of below 0.5 means more containers leave a port compared to the number which enter. Above 0.5 means more containers are entering the port.
The CAx includes:
Gate-in and gate-out moves of containers (or import and exports of containers)
An estimation of manufactured containers in China
20ft and 40ft containers
The CAx does not include:
Empty repositioning of containers by carriers
Containers sold locally in certain locations
Exact number of manufactured containers
Container xChange is a technology company that offers container trading and leasing platform, payment infrastructure and efficient operating systems to container logistic companies world-wide. Covering the entire transaction process of shipping containers starting with finding new partners to tracking containers and managing payments, xChange makes using 3rd party equipment as easy as booking a hotel. We are on a mission to simplify the logistics of global trade.
Being one of the top ten logistics tech companies globally, xChange is fundamentally transforming thousands of processes involved in moving containers globally. xChange is trusted by more than 1000 container logistic companies such as Kuehne+Nagel, Seaco or Sarjak that use the neutral online platform every day to remove friction and to create economic opportunity.
xChange was founded by Christian Roeloffs and Dr. Johannes Schlingmeier in 2015 as a side project (an excel sheet) being a part of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in 2015. In 2017 the company was spun off as an independent, neutral business entity. Headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, xChange is now more than 240 employees from 65+ countries, making container operations smoother for 1000+ shipping companies.
A funded company, Container xChange acquired TankContainerFinder.com in 2021 to further strengthen its product offerings portfolio for tank containers trading and leasing capabilities. https://www.container-xchange.com/
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