© Igor Gromov, dreamstime.com
The China Container Industry Association (CCIA) expects manufacturing output to drop by as much as 30% this year, because of a rebalancing of supply and demand.
Chinese manufacturers produce 95% of the world’s containers and, after record output in 2021, 2024, and 2025, downward pressure on prices is expected.
Last year, China’s container output totalled 6.45m teu, the third highest after 2021 and 2024. And during China’s 14th ‘Five-Year Plan’, between 2021 and 2025, annual container output averaged 5.4m teu, a 70% increase over the 13th plan.
CCIA noted that container manufacturing had weathered a full cycle of fluctuations – from a severe shortage during Covid, to capacity expansion during the Red Sea crisis, and the supply-demand rebalance today.
The association suggests the container supply chain will be under pressure, and adjusted, this year, with new-container production expected to be between 4.5m and 5m teu.
Last year, driven by multiple factors such as high containership deliveries, the Red Sea crises, slow returns of empty containers in Europe, and China’s export surplus, container production was pushed up.
Downward pressure on container prices resulted, and Singamas, the fourth-largest container maker, said in its 2025 financials that prices fell to $1,752 per teu that year, down from $1,985 in 2024.
Indeed, the CCIA noted that prices of dry containers had declined for four consecutive years, returning to pre-2020 levels. The customer composition had changed accordingly, with liner operators accounting for 55.4% of sales, up by 9.3 percentage points, while container leasing companies’ share declined accordingly.
This was attributed to a higher inventory of containers held by lessors.
Meanwhile, Cosco Shipping Development, parent of Shanghai Universal Logistics Equipment (also known as Dong Fang International Containers), indicted by the US Department of Justice on 19 May accused of colluding with CIMC, CXIC and Singamas to raise container prices by restricting output, has released a statement saying it had yet to be formally notified of the DoJ indictment, and its operations were proceeding normally.