Share of the container fleet capacity not utilized 2019-2022

Between January 2019 and February 2022, utilization of container ship capacity became an issue. In January 2019, about 2.9 percent of the global container fleet capacity was unutilized. In February 2022, this figure grew to 11.6 percent, primarily due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the worldwide supply chain. Delays of container ships and trade imbalances were among the main reasons for the low capacity utilization rate in 2021 and 2022.

Schedule reliability of container carriers dropping

Amid the pandemic, the schedule reliability of leading container carriers decreased considerably. While in January 2020, 68.5 percent of container ships reached their destination on time, in January 2022, only 34.4 percent arrived on time. Moreover, the time it took for a shipping container to reach its destination increased. Between January 2020 and January 2022, the number of days for a shipping container to be delivered from China to the United States more than doubled, from about 51 to 107 days.

Soaring container freight rates

With less capacity available and demand for container shipping not decreasing, container freight rates have reached record-high levels. While throughout 2019, the global container freight rate index oscillated between 1,262 U.S. dollars and 1,720 U.S. dollars, it started to rise steeply at the end of 2020, reaching its peak in September 2021 at 10,361 U.S. dollars.