Container Rates Rise As Shippers Get A Jump On Peak Holiday Season

The cost of leasing shipping containers is rising.

What Happened: The average cost to ship a 40-foot container from China to the U.S. West Coast has jumped from $1,1765 in June to $1,534 in July and from $1,149 last month to $1,477 this month, data from online container leasing platform Container xChange showed.

“The recent volume increase and subsequent container price hikes, was primarily driven by the pulling forward of orders, raising questions about the strength of underlying demand,” Container xChange CEO Christian Roeloffs said.

“If this demand proves to be weak in the H2 of 2024, we could see container prices and freight rates momentum decline."

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Why It Matters: Carriers and leasing companies expect a further upswing in trade activity.

There is concern that the surge in container demand is primarily driven by large retailers preemptively managing inventories for the peak season, rather than a robust demand recovery, Roeloffs said.

“Consequently, the likelihood of container prices sliding and stabilizing at a lower level is high,” he said.

“The recent stabilization of container prices in China aligns with our earlier forecast, suggesting that the peak of price hikes may have been reached or is nearing soon.”

Price Action: Triton International Ltd. TRTN, a Bermuda-based container leasing company that is owned by Brookfield Infrastructure Partners BIP declined 0.04% to $25.85 by Thursday’s early-afternoon trading.

Brookfield Infrastructure, a Canadian infrastructure management company, picked up 0.35% to $31.15.

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