New index reveals container supply and demand

Container Availability Index (CAx) was developed to forecast supply and demand of container equipment based on millions of containers the company tracks and on transactions through xChange.

The latest projections show that supply of 40-ft containers will be tight in Hamburg.

Container xChange marketing and communications manager Florian Frese told Container Shipping & Trade “In the coming weeks, high-cube containers will become scarce in Hamburg, but the supply of available dry containers will increase. This is shown by the CAx Container xChange.”

The index can have values between 0 and 1. 1 stands for an absolute overhang, 0.5 for a balance between supply and demand, and 0 indicates an absolute undersupply of free equipment.

He added “As in previous weeks (CAx average 0.71), there will still be enough 20-foot containers available in Hamburg in the coming weeks – the CAx shows values greater than 0.6 here.”

But he said the opposite is to be expected for 40-foot containers. “The availability of 40-foot high-cube containers will fall from 0.73 to 0.11, whereas standard containers will increase in availability again after a small low in the last few weeks (CAx low: 0.19).”