Shipping container prices continue to rise, and supplies dwindle, thanks in part to nations seeing the benefit of COVID-19 vaccines and relaxation of their restrictions. With winter approaching and retail spending expected to rise, we are also now entering peak trade season, meaning that the effects of container shortages and higher-than-usual prices are going to be felt more than ever before. Experts say that these conditions will continue well into next year, if not longer.
Since the US economy opened before most of the other nations, there was an increase in the demand for containers in the US and consequently, more trade flowed from countries like China into the US. The value of each trip a container makes from China into the US is, on average, 15 times higher than when it makes the same trip back, a condition that suggests a significant trade imbalance. Additional factors such as port closures, political instability, natural disasters, strength of the dollar, and instability in the number of covid-19 cases also cause a delay in shipping. Recently, new covid-19 cases emerged in one of the largest ports in China, causing its indefinite closure. This resulted in increased wait times and delays in loading / unloading of ships at other surrounding ports and will have major impacts on supply chains for the next few months.
This situation causes sever shortages and inconveniences for many business owners. Canadian shopkeepers and entrepreneurs have had their materials and equipment orders delayed for months on end, some still waiting for shipments since before spring. Not only are their shipments late, they are also facing increased shipping costs due to the increases in the prices of shipping containers. Although in Canada we haven’t seen many increases in prices at retail stores, we may begin seeing some in the near future.
Curious to learn how the shipping container shortage will affect your holiday shopping? Check out this CNN article.
While availability of shipping containers is still a major factor affecting the shipping container industry, we still carry a large selection of new and used containers at our Canadian depots. We encourage clients to reach out to us in advance if they need to request a particular type of container. For more information about storage containers, please reach us by telephone at 1-866-846-0270 or by email at info@atscontainers.com. For more information about our container lineup, please visit our website at www.atscontainers.com.