集装箱出口:活力绽放

More Containers at Sea

2011年的第一季度,集装箱出口是否会跳出传统出口淡季的迷局而高歌猛进,走出一个不同以往的漂亮曲线？

The first and last quarters are off-season for ocean shipping and container businesses. So when Chinese container exporters saw a boom in order forms in the fourth quarter of 2010, they began to expect that they could continue the trend in the first quarter of 2011. This expectation may be doubtable, but the country's container exports will definitely rise. China has been the largest container producer and seller in the world since 1993. Its dry container outputs account for more than 95 percent of the global output. But the country's container exports began to fall sharply in July 2008 and hit rock bottom in the middle of 2009. China's container exports have increased since the second half of 2009 as the global market has kept reviving. The monthly export volume rose by 24.5 percent to 276,000 in November 2010. Although the overseas market may fluctuate in coming years, and the fourth quarter of 2011 may see another lull, there are good reasons for predictions by analysts that the global container fleets will increase by 9.1 percent, that supply will fall behind demand, and that refrigerated containers (i.e., reefers) will lead the way with rapidly increasing sales.