Maybe you are driving a car manufactured in Japan, snacking on dried mangos imported from the Philippines, or sitting on a chair assembled in China. No matter what the case may be, the majority of the commodities you own were once stored inside a shipping container, transported via cargo ships, and eventually arriving at your doorstep. It gives us an idea that shipping containers play an essential role in the global supply chain.
Where are all the shipping containers?
With globalization, the demand for shipping containers is higher than ever before. Within these past two years, shipping containers became extremely hard to acquire, and their price skyrocketed; purchasing a shipping container doubled in price. This article will find out the factors leading to this phenomenon.
Cargo ship loaded with shipping containers
Why are shipping containers now so expensive and hard to find?
Shipping containers are frequently used to transport goods globally. Its durable design is the perfect component for companies to transport goods at a relatively low cost. Back in early 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic hits, the shipping of goods and the supply chain were drastically affected; an accumulation of empty shipping containers sitting at ports and longer delays for unloading the containers, ultimately led to the shortage of shipping containers. In the meantime, the demand for goods not only did not decline but kept on increasing. As a result, shipping containers became highly sought after, and their price escalated to an all-time high.
Impacts of the pandemic
Many companies and manufacturers temporarily stopped their production during the pandemic, with concerns of the unpredictable future, multiple shipping lines then delayed or cancelled their shipping schedules. The travel restrictions imposed by different countries only aggravated the problem; unloading time for the containers increased, and empty containers failed to be transported back for shipping.
LuckyBox shipping containers
Is there an end in sight?
With the backlog of shipping containers at ports, longer unloading time, the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, and the increasing demand for goods to be transported, the crisis of shipping containers shortage is not likely to get better anytime soon. In addition, the BC flooding that took place last month only put salt on the wound.
Despite the shortage of containers globally, containers are available for rent here at LuckyBox Storage; we offer the best rates in town for our valuable customers.
