Surge in Demand and Pricing for 20’ Shipping Containers

If you're involved with shipping containers, either as a regular buyer or have been thinking about purchasing one, you may have noticed a quick rise in pricing and demand for 20' containers in most locations throughout North America. Many people are asking what's caused this bump and how long will it last?

What's caused the Rise in Shipping Container Prices? As previously noted, shipping container manufacturers have had to shut down to retool their lines in order to paint shipping containers with water borne paint, as opposed to the previously used solvent based paint. This shutdown started after Chinese New Year and it's estimated to take approximately three months to completely change the assembly lines and painting facilities. During this time, they're not able to manufacture any containers so shipping lines and leasing companies are left to deal with the equipment they have in service, or had previously had manufactured and was on the ground in China. Without having a firm date on new production, many shipping lines have started to keep their containers in service longer, and have picked up additional supply from leasing companies, thus causing the shortage in the second hand market.

How long will the Price Increase Last?

The second most common question is, "how long will this increase in container pricing last?" How long is a piece of string? There's no solid answer to this question. Some think the increase is here to stay, others feel that when inventory stabilizes the prices will gradually drift back down to previous levels. From the ContainerAuction.com stand point, we've seen container pricing at this heightened level before, and the nature of the industry does tend to be cyclical. It's quite likely that this price increase will stick around until the summer (2017) and should start to show some signs of relief near the end middle to end of the summer.

ContainerAuction.com is an online marketplace for new and used shipping containers. Our experienced staff has been involved with shipping container trading and finance for over a decade. If your organization is in need of new or used shipping containers, or fleet appraisals and valuations, we can work with you to provide real time, accurate valuations to give you a better idea of what the value that you are working with. To contact ContainerAuction.com you can email the office at sales@containerauction.com.