High cube 40ft containers are stealing a march on traditional 40ft equipment and by the end of 2013 represented just short of 50 percent of the maritime container fleet, according to Drewry's Container Census report.
The overall fleet of maritime 40ft high cube containers grew by over seven percent in 2013, a much faster pace than the global container fleet whose growth was limited to just 4.3 percent.
"Gains made in the maritime standard fleet came wholly at the expense of standard 40ft equipment, whose count continued to decline, although the 20ft share held stable at about a third," said Andrew Foxcroft, editor of Drewry's Container Census report. "These long-term changes in the fleet composition are predicted to continue through 2014-17."
Growth in the overall container equipment fleet was slower in 2013 than in 2012, when it grew at a racier 5.3 percent, but in line with the five-year average of four percent. Prior to 2009 annualised fleet growth had been double this figure, indicating the impact of weaker trade growth and liner efficiency gains on overall equipment demand.
"Drewry is forecasting that the global box fleet will grow by around five percent a year through 2014-17, with growth in the leased fleet set to continue to outpace that of the owned fleet," added Foxcroft. "Leasing firms remain better placed to invest in box equipment than shipping lines, many of which are still short of capital and so continue to be reliant on rental support."
Global box production is not expected to increase much over the short term, following a decade in which the underlying rate of annual production has changed little at around three million TEUs a year.
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