Growing demand for container conversions

Despite market conditions
remaining under pressure
in Botswana, demand
for container conversions
in the country is on the
rise, according to Hennie
Wiggett, group MD for
Speedspace.
Wiggett told FTW that
current economic challenges
due to depressed commodity
prices continued to affect
Botswana but he is upbeat
about future growth.
“We expect market
conditions to remain under
pressure for at least the
next 12-18 months. We are
however excited about the
prospects of our containerrelated
business,” he said.
“The initial tightening in
supply of containers that
started in October last year
has resulted in a sharp
increase in container prices
over the past four months.”
He said shipping
lines’ reliance on leasing
companies and leasing
companies prioritising
leasing instead of sales also
exacerbated the shortage of
access to sufficient container
stock.
“We have noticed recently
that the initial shock of
increased pricing as well as
the container shortage has
diminished and believe that
demand will start increasing
in the second half of this
year,” said Wiggett. “With
the imminent developments
of phase two of the Moropule
Power station we will most
certainly see an increase
of activity that will have a
direct impact on freight and
logistics in the short term.”