Container highs and lows for 2010

Although 2010 has not been the happiest of years for the global container industry, it has certainly brought a few more smiles to faces than the 18 miserable months preceding it. The key events in the international and local container scene were: * Annual production at the world’s two largest container manufacturers in China (which produce about 90% of global output) is expected to be only 1.35-million TEUs this year. This is well down on the 4.2-m produced in 2007, and the current fleet of 5-m. * Global container traffic is expected to hit 138.4-million TEUs this year – the record highest since containerisation began almost 40-years ago. * The cellular containership orderbook has risen for the first time since July 2008, due to the resurgence in new order activity and a slower pace of new vessel deliveries in October. * The growth in container ship supply in 2011 and 2012 is expected to come close to the 9.6% forecast for this year. * Overall demand-supply balance remains delicate and any slowdown in demand will cause a return of excess supply. The 2011 demand growth is likely to be well below the 12.5% growth rate projected for 2010, with current fourthquarter growth levels considerably lower than those of the first three quarters.