North America Edition
Empty containers leaving US shores have been troubling American exports lately. Ships coming into ports are welcomed with imported goods. On the contrary, the exports of US goods including agricultural products are not able to break through international markets and demands.
This has created an imbalance in container usage, exemplified rightly by MarketWatch Data. As per the data, 12.1 million boxes have left those ports empty through October 2021, jumping 46.2% from 2020 and 37.8% as compared to 2019.
An incredible 59% of containers left the US ports unattended with goods in the first 10 months of the year. Moreover, the compulsive demand for imported goods into the US has pushed up rates for freight being shipped across the Pacific from Asia to the US, making the route much more lucrative as compared to the US-Asia route. The better money-making opportunity pushes the ships and the shipowners to rush back to Asia with empty containers.
Source: container-news.com
