Container Availability Slumps in Southern China Ports on COVID Lockdowns

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Container Availability Slumps in Southern China Ports on COVID Lockdowns

June 12th, 2021 Container xChange Leave a comment

Ports in southern China impacted by Covid-19 lockdowns that are further disrupting the global box trade have seen a significant slump in container availability in the last two weeks, according to the latest data from Container xChange.

Pearl River Delta port productivity has slumped in recent weeks with container lines citing positive Covid-19 cases for slowing productivity.

Yantian and Shekou ports, near Shenzhen, and Nansha port, part of the Guangzhou box hub, have been most affected. All three have seen significant drops in container availability in the last two weeks, according to Container xChange, the world’s leading online platform for the leasing and trading of shipping containers.

“Far few empty boxes are arriving back to southern China as container lines skip calls and many shippers will likely face long delays or higher prices for equipment if they can’t avoid using the affected ports,” said Dr. Johannes Schlingmeiner.

Yantian saw a 19% drop in incoming containers between Week 17 and last week (Week 22). Nansha’s drop in incoming containers over the same period was 16.4%, while at Shekou the plunge was 29.6%.

Each of the ports also suffered major week-on-week drops in incoming boxes with an average change between Week 21 and Week 22 of -4.1% at Yantian, -16.7% at Shekou and -10% at Nansha.

In Container xChange’s Container Availability Index (CAx) an index reading of below 0.5 means more containers leave a port compared to the number which enter. Above 0.5 means more containers are entering the port.

At Yantian, the CAx reading for a 40 ft dry container was 0.61 in Week 17 but fell to 0.47 in Week 22. At Shekou and Nansha similar drops were apparent over the same time period for most equipment types.

“Our forecasts suggest container availability at these ports in southern China will not increase in the coming weeks as more container lines cancel calls,” said Dr Johannes Schlingmeiner.

“We expect container prices in those areas to increase and many shippers will likely turn to Shipper Owned Containers (SOC) which are still available on our exchange.”

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About the Container Availability Index:

The Container Availability Index monitors and forecasts global container equipment supply by tracking millions of monthly container moves. For more information and weekly email updates, check out: https://container-xchange.com/features/cax/

About Container xChange:

Container xChange operates the leading online platform for the leasing and trading of shipping containers. More than 600 shipping companies including Kuehne+Nagel, Seaco and Sarjak rely on its platform to increase flexibility and simplify the operational handling of SOC Containers. Founded by Dr. Johannes Schlingmeier and Christian Roeloffs in 2017 and headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, the company now has more than 100 employees.

http://container-xchange.com/

Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily, Ocean Carriers

CONTAINER PRICES SURGE IN EUROPE AS CARRIERS FAVOR LOADING EMPTIES

May 27th, 2021 Container xChange Leave a comment

For European exporters looking to source shipping containers, existing shortages could deteriorate significantly in the coming weeks, according to the latest data from Container xChange, the world’s leading online platform for the leasing and trading of shipping containers.

Most pricing and availability indicators now suggest carriers are continuing to favor shipping empties back to Asia as fast as possible to maximize yields on front-haul services rather than wait for less lucrative backhaul loads.

The upshot for shippers is rapidly rising prices in Europe for containers even though CAx availability readings point to higher availability of boxes in European hubs – Container xChange figures do not track empty moves.

“The confluence of theoretical high availability and soaring prices for boxes strongly indicates that container lines are prioritizing empty containers over export cargo from Europe,” said Dr Johannes Schlingmeier.

“There were signs of this even before the Suez Canal closure in late March. The latest figures suggest the additional disruption this caused has exacerbated the situation and made it even harder for exporters to find empties.”

The latest container trading data reveals that between January and April average prices for used 20 ft. containers across Europe rose 57% from $1348 to $2119.

In April, price increases for 20 ft. containers were especially severe. In Antwerp, prices jumped by 30% compared to March. In Hamburg they rose by 16% over the same period while in Rotterdam they increased 12%.

Since the beginning of May, average prices for 20 ft. dry containers in Europe softened slightly to $2249 from $2110 in April. However, prices for 40 ft. dry containers have again increased this month, up 13% to $3112 from $2750 in April.

In Container xChange’s Container Availability Index (CAx) an index reading of below 0.5 means more containers leave a port compared to the number which enters. Above 0.5 means more containers are entering the port.

At the port of Genoa, the average CAx reading for a 20 ft. box in 2021 is 0.71, up from 0.26 through the first half of 2020. At Hamburg, in 2021 the average CAx reading has so far this year is 0.75, compared to 0.39 in 1H 2020, while at Rotterdam the reading is 0.71 so far this year, versus 0.46 a year earlier.

After a short dip in incoming containers to Europe due to the Suez Canal closure as measured by Container xChange’s Container Availability Index (CAx), inbound volumes are expected to increase again.

CAx readings for week 19 decreased by on average 4.5% to values of 0.85 across dry-container sizes in Hamburg, 0.79 in Rotterdam, and 83.5 in Antwerp, indicating an ongoing surplus of incoming boxes.

“According to Container xChange forecasts, an increase in incoming shipping containers by 4-5% over the next weeks is likely to not only increase CAx readings but also contribute to slowly decreasing container prices again,” said Dr Schlingmeier.

“These are good times for equipment owners across Europe as indications are that even if container prices dip slightly, scarcity will remain until carriers change tack and start looking for more backloads. As a result, container prices are likely to remain at elevated levels for some time, although we do think availability for exporters will improve in the coming months.”

Archives, Global Trade Daily, News

Container xChange: Suez Canal Closure Increases the Pressure on Europe’s Ports

May 4th, 2021 Container xChange Leave a comment

The anticipated box crunch at European ports following the closure of the Suez Canal at the end of March has been less severe than expected, according to Container xChange.

However, Europe’s leading box hubs are still receiving far more boxes than are departing.

The average CAx reading of incoming 20-foot dry-containers across three of Europe’s biggest ports – Rotterdam, Antwerp, and Hamburg – climbed just 3% in week 17 compared to the week before.

At Rotterdam, the increase in incoming 20 ft. dry containers was most stark, with box numbers rising +3.75% week-on-week. At Antwerp, the week-on-week increase was +3.5%, while at Hamburg it was +2.2%.

At all three ports, incoming box traffic has been heavy since March. In Container xChange’s Container Availability Index (CAx) an index reading of below 0.5 means more containers leave a port compared to the number which enter. Above 0.5 means more containers are entering the port.

Chart: Container Availability Index for 20 ft. Dry-Containers at the ports of Antwerp, Rotterdam, Felixstowe, and Hamburg in 2021. For more info, click here.

Hamburg has recorded a CAx reading of above 0.8 since week 9 of this year. In week 17 its CAx reading was 0.93, up from 0.48 in week 1. Rotterdam’s CAx reading has also risen steadily in 2021, climbing from 0.65 in week 1 to 0.74 in week 9 and up to 0.83 in week 17.

Antwerp, meanwhile, recorded a CAx of 0.38 at the start of the year, 0.78 in week 9 and 0.9 in week 17.

In contrast, the situation at heavily-congested Felixstowe has been dire all year. The hub’s lowest CAx this year was 0.87 in week 3. In week 17 it recorded a CAx of 0.95, up from 0.94 in week 16.

Dr. Johannes Schlingmeier, CEO & Founder of Container xChange, the world’s leading container leasing and trading platform, commented:

“Europe’s top container terminals have been struggling to keep congestion at bay, with incoming boxes outweighing outgoing boxes for much of 2021. The closure of the Suez Canal appears to have only made the box crunch at Europe’s hubs only slightly worse than it already was.

“What we’re hearing from our container leasing and trading members is that they find it increasingly difficult to book export containers with the carriers across Europe. It seems shipping lines are prioritizing empty containers in order to move the boxes back to China as fast as possible.”

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About the Container Availability Index:

The Container Availability Index tracks millions of monthly container moves to monitor and forecast the global container equipment supply. An index of 0.5 describes a balanced market, below 0.5 a shortage of containers. For more information and weekly email updates, check out https://container-xchange.com/features/cax/

About Container xChange:

Container xChange is the world’s leading online platform used by 600+ companies to buy, sell and lease shipping containers. Container users and owners use the platform to find containers, work with vetted partners and automate the operational workload. Started by Dr. Johannes Schlingmeier and Christian Roeloffs in 2017, the company has now more than 100+ employees with headquarters in Hamburg, Germany. https://container-xchange.com/

Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily, Ocean Ports

CONTAINER PRICES SURGE IN CHINA AND INDIA AS SUPPLY CHAIN BLOCKAGES TIGHTEN SUPPLY

April 19th, 2021 Container xChange Leave a comment

The container shortages that have been adding to logistics logjams in Asia and beyond are showing few signs of being resolved, according to the latest data from Container xChange, the world’s leading online platform for the leasing and trading of shipping containers.

In China, average prices for used twenty-foot containers increased 94% between November 2020 and March 2021. The surge from an average price of $1,299 per box in November last year to $2,521 in March indicates that container scarcity is continuing to worsen.

The latest Container Availability Index (CAx) data also reveals that equipment shortages are also now driving up container prices at major Indian ports. Between June 2020 and March 2021, the average used 20 ft. container prices across the ports of Chennai, Mundra and Nhava Sheva rose from $1,106 to $1,755, an increase of 58%.

Dr. Johannes Schlingmeier, CEO & Founder of the container leasing and trading platform Container xChange, commented: “The relentless pace of container shipping trade since the summer of 2020 is not easing and this is reflected in equipment shortages in Asia, and elsewhere. We expect markets will tighten even further in the coming weeks as the ripple effect of the Suez Canal closure at the end of March further disrupts container shipping services and equipment availability.”

Shanghai prices fall

Across the eight biggest ports in China, average prices for used 20 ft. containers climbed 38% from $1,251 in November 2020 to $1,733 in March 2021.

There are indications that equipment is being funneled to China’s largest container hubs. At the port of Shanghai, the world’s largest box port by volume, the average used container price in January this year was $2,162 marking it as the most expensive port in China to procure a used box. By March, however, the average price of a used 20 ft. container at Shanghai had fallen to $1,686.

The port of Dalian is now the most expensive location in China to purchase a used 20 ft. container with prices in March averaging $2028. Equivalent prices at Qingdao and Tianjin were $1,850 and $1,800, respectively.

In India, Chennai was by far the most expensive port to buy used containers in March 2021 with an average price of $2,220 per 20 ft container. Average prices in March at Nhava Sheva were $1,667 per 20 ft container. Mundra was the cheapest location in India to procure a used box with an average price of $1,455.

New vs. used container prices

Such is the urgent demand for boxes in the current highly stressed ocean container market that the cost of procuring a used container has now increased far beyond what was previously considered a ‘normal’ price for a newbuild container.

“It always depends on the exact equipment type, but before shortages became critical a standard used container which was a few years old would cost around $1,000 in China, while a brand-new container would be about double the price,” said Schlingmeier.

“However, in the current market, used containers are selling at $2,300-$2,600 across China, while prices for brand-new containers at Shanghai, for example, have skyrocketed by 64% in 2021 to an average of $3,390.”

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About the Container Availability Index:

About Container xChange:

Archives, Global Trade Daily, Ocean Ports

CONTAINER SHORTAGES EASE AT CHINESE BOX HUBS POST-CNY

April 2nd, 2021 Container xChange Leave a comment

After months of crippling shortages, container availability is finally improving again in China, according to Container xChange’s Container Availability Index (CAx).

The CAx reading of incoming containers across Chinese main ports is currently up 56% compared to before the Chinese New Year (CNY) holidays which started on February 11.

At Shanghai, the biggest Chinese box port, the CAx has increased 64% for 20 ft. dry containers when comparing pre-and post-CNY container availability.

For 40 ft. dry containers, the increase is even starker, with box availability improving 112% over the same period.

Dr. Johannes Schlingmeier, CEO & Founder of the container leasing and trading platform Container xChange, commented:

“Trade traditionally slows down in China for an extended period during and after the Chinese New Year holidays as factory workers travel to visit families and output drops. Most data suggest Covid travel restrictions and high demand for exports meant that many factories continued operations. But it seems the drop off in output, even if less than normal, was enough to allow the container supply/demand imbalance to reduce.”

In the Container xChange Container Availability Index (CAx), an index reading of below 0.5 means more containers leave a port compared to the number entered. Above 0.5 means more containers are entering the port.

“One week of index values greater than 0.5 does not mean so much but exceeding the 0.5 marks for several weeks in a row like Shanghai and other main ports in China have done means that finally more containers are entering ports regularly, giving them the chance allow the container supply/demand imbalance to reduce,” said Schlingmeier.

For exporters who continue to struggle with finding the right equipment, other Chinese ports such as Qingdao, Dalian, and Ningbo are great alternatives to Shanghai.

Chart 2: Container Availability Index for 40 ft. dry-containers and 20ft. dry-containers in Dalian and Ningbo

Dalian, with the highest equipment availability of the three ports, shows the highest post-CNY index values with 0.79 for 20ft dry containers and 0.80 for 40 ft dry containers – up 17% and 27%, respectively, since the pre-CNY period.

At Qingdao, 20 ft. dry and 40 ft. post-CNY container availability readings on the CAx are 0.64 and 0.65, up from 0.42 and 0.39 during the pre-CNY period.

Container prices confirm the positive trend. After record highs for used container boxes in January of $5593 for cargo-worthy containers, prices fell to $3750 in February.

“These prices are still far higher than buyers usually pay for newly built containers, but this is still good news for companies who export from China,” said Schlingmeier.

“With so many supply chain disruptions still evident, we expect container availability in China and elsewhere to remain volatile. But thus far in 2021, there are positive signs that availability at key export hubs is improving.”

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About the Container Availability Index:

About Container xChange:

Archives, Global Trade Daily, Ocean Ports

UK Ports Suffering Post-Brexit Container Logjams

March 16th, 2021 Container xChange Leave a comment

Post-Brexit trade disruption and ongoing congestion are causing critical build-ups of containers at UK ports, according to the latest data from Container xChange.

The UK’s leading container terminals struggled to cope with the pandemic-driven surge of imports last year resulting in lengthy delays for haulers and vessels and an excess of containers building up in ports.

Since the UK departed the European Union on January 1 and started trading under a post-Brexit customs and regulatory regime, the latest data from Container xChange, the world’s leading online platform for buying, selling, and leasing shipping containers, indicates the situation has worsened.

Under Container xChange’s Container Availability Index (CAx), an index reading of 0.5 describes a balanced market. Below 0.5 means there is a shortage of containers. Above 0.5 means there is an excess of containers.

At the port of Felixstowe, the average reading of the CAx so far in 2021 for a 40 ft container is 0.95, up from 0.79 in 2020. The CAx for a 20 ft box has increased from an average of 0.78 in 2020 to 0.90 this year.

A similar picture is apparent at the port of Southampton where the CAx reading for a 40 ft container is 0.86 in 2021, up from an average of 0.71 last year. For a 20 ft container, the CAx reading is 0.85, up from an average of 0.72 in 2020.

“The UK’s leading gateway terminals for container traffic suffered congestion for much of 2020 prompting carriers to cut some calls and ship cargo in from European hubs via the Channel Tunnel, ferry services, and feeder services instead,” said Dr. Johannes Schlingmeier, CEO of Container xChange.

“Based on the build-up of containers at ports in 2021, it seems the situation has further deteriorated. We are now seeing critical levels of boxes building up at Southampton and Felixstowe. Post-Brexit cross-Channel shipments are more complicated under dual Customs regimes and this could be a factor in logistics bottlenecks.”

Efforts by container lines to avoid Brexit disruption and delays at southern terminals by launching new services into the port of Liverpool are also now coming unstuck, with the port struggling to handle increased volumes. This is reflected in an accelerating excess of containers at the port.

In 2020 the average CAx reading at the port of Liverpool for a 40 ft container was 0.59. In 2021 this has climbed to 0.75. For a 20 ft container, the CAx reading in 2021 is 0.82, up from an average of 0.68 last year.

European gateway ports have also suffered disruptions and delays due to pandemic-driven container traffic surges. However, container availability at leading hubs is currently better balanced than in the UK.

At the port of Rotterdam, the CAx average reading for a 40 ft container this year is 0.51, compared to an average of 0.40 in 2020. At Antwerp, shortages have been a problem, with an average reading for a 40 ft container of 0.21 in 2020 improving to a more balanced 0.41 this year.

Similarly, in Hamburg, the average CAx reading for a 40 ft container in 2020 was 0.27 suggesting critical shortages. This year the average reading has improved to 0.49.

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About Container xChange: Container xChange operates the leading online platform for the leasing and trading of shipping containers. More than 600 shipping companies including Kuehne+Nagel, Seaco and Sarjak rely on its platform to increase flexibility and simplify the operational handling of SOC Containers. http://container-xchange.com/

Archives, Global Trade Daily, International Trade, U.S. Ports

Despite Shortage, Containers Rotting in Depots?

December 3rd, 2020 Container xChange Leave a comment

Container availability across China is still at a record low, while US ports are overwhelmed by a surge of shipping containers from Asia, full of products retailers are eager to get on shelves for the holidays.

Due to the fastest increase in demand after months full of blank sailings, container availability for 40HCs is only at 0.05 CAx points compared to 0.63 at the same time last year, according to the Container Availability Index.

Although the US East Coast is usually a surplus location of equipment (last year’s CAx value for 40DC was 0.7), the container availability dropped to 0.43 indicating actually fewer containers than needed.

Containers spend 45 days on average in depot

The average and median time of containers (in days) between “empty in depot” and “empty dispatched” | Source: Research Project FraunhoferCML & Container xChange

Although containers are very much in need, they still spend on average 45 days empty at depots according to a research project by FraunhoferCML and Container xChange.

Especially in regions with low container availability such as China and the US, the average is comparably high with 61 and 66 days compared to the global average of 45 days.

The high standard deviation of 85 days in North America and 129 days across Asia indicates many cases where containers spend far more days inside depots than the average suggests.

Compared to the Middle East (21 days on average) and Europe (23 days on average) it takes more than 30 extra days to move containers out of the depots and make money with them.

Archives, Global Trade Daily, Ocean Ports

Container Availability: From Shortage to Congestion?

April 1st, 2020 Container xChange Leave a comment

Container ports all over the world, with the exception of China, are faced with imminent congestion when a multitude of boxes sent for shipment from factories in Asia arrive at their import destinations. As the infection rate of the COVID-19 in China declined and production resumed, a large number of containers that had piled up in China have finally sailed to Europe and North America.

With Container Availability Index (CAx) values of 0.17 (20DCs) and 0.33 (40DCs), it seems like the Port of Shanghai is back at full productivity. In the past couple weeks, containers had piled up – CAx values of greater than 0.6 indicate a surplus of equipment – due to multitudinous blank sailings, something that would normally not happen often. Being able to forecast the development of the next 3 weeks, the CAx values for Shanghai will decrease from 0.41 for 20DCS in week 14, indicating that equipment will become more scarce again.

However, the effects of COVID-19 have dramatically affected consumer demand in the US and Europe. Buyers have begun to cancel orders as most of these countries are now in a severe lockdown situation and warehouse capacity is being maxed out. The incoming containers are most likely causing congestion, and incurring storage and demurrage charges at, for instance, the Port of Los Angeles or the Port of Hamburg.

With CAx values of 0.38 (20DCs) and 0.57 (40HCs) for Hamburg and values of 0.82 (40DCs) and 0.3 (40HCs) for Los Angeles, the Container Availability Index also forecasts increasing equipment volumes in these ports. The forecast takes millions of containers tracked through Container xChange into account, helping shipping companies make container sale, lease or repositioning decisions.

The next couple of weeks will tell us if the COVID-19 situation eases in the western world. To remain competitive, especially European freight forwarders and shippers are expected to increase their usage of SOC containers in order to avoid demurrage charges.

Archives, Global Trade Daily, News

Report: Shortage of Equipment in the US & Northern Europe

March 3rd, 2020 Container xChange Leave a comment

Equipment imbalances and empty container repositioning is a problem that accounts for $20 billion for the shipping industry annually, but due to the Coronavirus it got even worse for most carriers or NVOs. Especially in the US or Europe, companies are starting to experience frequent equipment shortages. This is a direct result of the ocean carriers’ blank sailing strategy which is triggered by the low/no volumes on major shipping routes. Based on ocean carriers’ comments and the Container Availability Index (CAx), it is expected that this trend will continue, if not only worsen.

The CAx forecasts supply and demand in container logistics for most of the biggest port locations for up to three weeks. It takes millions of containers tracked through the Container xChange online platform into account and shows that compared to 2019, containers are piling up in China. It shows values of 0.47 (20DCs), 0.94 (40DCs) and 0.71 (40HCs) for week 10 in Shanghai, China – a plus of 47% compared to week 10 last year.

Usually, it’s the other way around, but now we have a deficit of containers in North America and Europe, CAx values for Hamburg, Germany dropped by 33% to 0.07 (40HCs), 0.45 (40DCs) and 0.47 (20DCs). For Los Angeles, US, with CAx values of 0.25 (20DCs), 0.19 (40DCs) and 0.11 (40HCs) and Chicago, US with 0.02 (20DCs), 0.01 (40 DCs) and 0.11 (40HCs) it’s even worse and the forecast says it will not get better soon.

As a result of the blank sailings, it forces mainly NVOs to hold empty equipment longer than usual, incurring more demurrage & detention charges as well as chassis fees or repositioning equipment, where available, in addition to possible interchange fees. Additional surcharges and costs include Peak Season Surcharges (PSS), Container Imbalance Surcharge (CIS), Congestion Surcharges (CNS) and General Rate Increase (GRI). Feel free to use the CAx to find out about the equipment available in your port location.

A solution for how the problem can be tackled is the neutral online platform Container xChange. It lets NVOs identify partners for repositioning or find SOC containers to completely avoid demurrage & detention charges initially because shippers owned containers have just to be returned at the partner’s depot. Just type in your locations and find new partners in more than 2500 locations online.

Archives, Commentary, Global Trade Daily

Digital Collaboration: Get ahead, fast.

November 4th, 2019 Container xChange Leave a comment

Recently at a conference for freight forwarders everyone jointly agreed: if you’re the fastest to quote, you win the customer. What astonished me was what I heard in a conversation afterwards! “We are working in shifts now, 16 hours per day, to make sure we can quote fast and win new deals,” said one of the present forwarders. I was surprised that putting in more hours to send emails back and forth is a better solution for shipping companies than digitizing collaboration and automating tasks. The banking system solved this issue years ago with the introduction of the SWIFT system: a standardized banking system that enables companies which had never worked with each other before to transfer money on a global scale at no risk.

In shipping, we’re still way behind the curve. The newly formed Digital Container Shipping Association has taken the first timid steps to promote data standards in shipping because they believe in close collaboration between the different stakeholders. The underlying rationale for this collaboration is typically 2-fold: (a) Margins are still depressed due to overcapacity and (b) customers demand more and more streamlined services. Although costs for technology are consistently decreasing, our industry is generally considered to have been slow to adopt digital approaches. Of course, companies collaborate across company borders, mostly through emails and networks; but isn’t it extremely inefficient and unscalable, especially in times where this could be automated to be done within seconds instead of days?

What holds SMEs back from digital collaboration?

We have noticed that especially small and medium-sized companies are either stuck in their traditional mindset or simply don’t know how to start with digital collaboration. Why is that so and how do companies overcome this conundrum?

Companies are afraid to share their data

People have to overcome their traditional industry mindset first, as a highly competitive attitude makes collaboration with competitors exceedingly difficult. Most companies don’t want to share their data because they think it’s their secret and crucial for their business – but most “data” is non-sensitive. Consider container movements, position updates forecasts and contact information of local agents. Of course, crucial information about e.g., my commercial terms with my vendors should not be openly shared! However, sharing operational data means exchanging information that you can leverage to increase service offerings, internal processes and ultimately create quotations in less time.

Even if companies are willing to collaborate, they don’t know how to get started

Lack of existing data standards, limited capacity or scary data security questions – the list of potential challenges of data sharing is long (as for every new project!) and only a limited number of people in logistics have “been there, done that”.

However, in the end, it comes down to what you want to achieve/solve in the first place: How do you get your customers love working with you? How do you create quotations in less time to win more business? We suggest defining your most important targets and metrics first, and reverse engineer a good solution from there.

Now: How can you get started?

To get started with data sharing, finding out what you want in the first place is only the beginning of a long journey. To make it a little bit easier for you, try to answer the questions below for your own business (take a screenshot or copy into a word doc):

-What are my main pain points?

-What is particularly crucial for my customers?

-What data describes the problem the best?

-How well is my data organized?

-What data is non-sensitive?

-What additional data do I need?

-Who has it? How can I get that data?

-Who (of my partners) would need my data to become better?

-Does it make sense to work with them?

-What integrations and/or technology would that require?

There is no one-size-fits all solution as you can see! It’s about you and your specific business model. Only after you’re able to answer these questions you can think about the next steps: design use-cases/MVPs (Minimum Viable Products), and test setups and data integrations.

With missing IT capabilities or resources, building integrations can oftentimes be hard because you need to manage numerous data standards and interfaces. In most cases, a 3rd party technology provider can help you as a connector in the industry. Such technology companies can not only translate different data formats into one language, but they also anonymize data to increase trust and reduce perceived risks for you: You still own your data and it is 100% up to you what part of your data you want to share to reach a certain goal. Moreover, working with 3rd party technology providers has another advantage for you: they help you develop a proof of concept at low costs!

Of course, it requires a certain level of commitment, but working with a connector lets you test with a well-defined problem and a limited group of stakeholders to develop a workable solution. For freight forwarders, it could be the integration with a selected list of carriers to enable instant online quotes/ bookings for their customers. For equipment managers it could be integrating their equipment management system with a tracking provider to automatically receive container status updates such as pickups, drop-offs, delay warnings and ETAs.

Once the proof of concept has been demonstrated, the collaboration could then be expanded by bringing in additional stakeholders or addressing related problems with similar approaches. Being able to create quotations faster is only one challenge – several other topics including internal organization, equipment management or communication with external stakeholders can also be targeted with an open mindset and the courage to test new things. We encourage you to start right now!

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Christian Roeloffs is the founder and CEO of Container xChange – an online platform that creates transparency on supply and demand in container logistics. More than 300 container users and owners such as Seaco and Kuehne+Nagel use the neutral online platform to find SOC containers in 2500 locations and identify partners to avoid empty container repositioning.

Container Availability Slumps in Southern China Ports on COVID Lockdowns

Shanghai prices fall

New vs. used container prices

What holds SMEs back from digital collaboration?

Now: How can you get started?

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