Trend reverses as availability of containers improves at Indian Ports

The Mega container terminals in India are faced with the prospect of glut in the availability of containers during last few months following rise in import cargo while exports are witnessing a trend of a slowdown on the back of recessionary trends in Europe. Germany has formally slipped into recession while many other countries in Europe are expected to follow suit.

This is in sharp contrast to the Post-Covid trend, when containers were in short supply forcing the government to go into container manufacturing units in Gujarat. There was hue and cry in the EXIM trade that the issue of shortage of containers should be addressed by the government lest it would affect country’s exports.

The trend has since reversed according to media reports which say the terminals are facing a problem of over-supply of containers. The container availability in the last few months witnessed a massive increase in bound ones.   EXIM trade sources attributed the trend to rising imports that have landed at these terminals leading to better availability of containers. The country exports has however shrunk to around 35 billion US dollars during April, about 13 per cent lower than the turn over during the corresponding period previous year

The container export scenario is not bright for the next two months due to sharp fall in consumer demand in United States and the Continent.  Many textiles exporters from Tirupur have reported that they are yet to receive firm orders for the Christmas season from these countries. Normally they receive these orders around May every year.