You may remember a few months ago when we started hearing murmurs of a global pandemic. Here we are, months down the road, and people are still talking about the virus which came from Wuhan, China. With thousands of infections across the world and thousands of deaths, many industries are being hit hard by the reduction in commerce.

As China is a major hub of transportation, shipping, and containers, there have been decreased vessel demands resulting in lower supply related to shipping containers.

Taking a step back to take a look at how the situation we find ourselves in impacts the supply and demand of containers in China gives us some clarity on where we find ourselves and where you may find yourself as someone who is looking to purchase or customize a shipping container. There are a few sources of data we can use to forecast supply in coming months.

In looking at the port in Shanghai, notably the largest port in the world, the index shows pretty high availability. In many instances, there are surpluses of equipment meaning there are containers stacking up at the port. Buying a container will be just as easy, if not easier than before all of this took place.

With so many factors included, it is no wonder there have been some changes in the market as coronavirus has progressed. While we are all impacted on a personal level, there will be unforeseen impacts in many industries across the globe the longer this continues. Stay safe, stay healthy, and give us a call whenever you are ready to acquire your shipping container!