What’s new: China’s customs bureau has given its official explanation for the glut of empty containers sitting in Chinese ports.
The piles of metal boxes are the result of a combination of factors — a surge in new container supply during the pandemic to meet a jump in Chinese exports, the low cost of storing the boxes in China, large amounts of empty containers returning to China after the export boom during the pandemic ease, and seasonal factors.
That was the insight provided by Yu Jianhua, minister of the General Administration of Customs, at a briefing Monday.
Citing customs data, Yu said that the number of containers used for exports has been growing since late February. He didn’t provide further details.
The background: Caixin reported last month that empty containers were piling up at major global ports, including those in Shanghai and Qingdao, as slowing economic growth weighed on global shipping demand.
Since the beginning of this year, the weekly Container Availability Index (CAx) for 40-foot containers in Shanghai has remained above 0.6, according to container monitoring platform Container xChange. CAx values above 0.5 mean that more containers entered a port than left it.
Related: Empty Containers Pile Up at Global Ports as Trade Slows
Contact reporter Zhang Yukun (yukunzhang@caixin.com) and editor Nerys Avery (nerysavery@caixin.com)
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