One colossal container order book from the teu capacity is setting new records as the order is the equivalent to the extant fleets of Cosco, Hapag-Lloyd, Evergreen, and Ocean Network Express (ONE) combined.
After looking into brokers Braemar ACM it was determined that starting May 1 this year the capacity on order as a percentage of the fleet breached 30%, with also 7.5m teu of capacity currently on order. The most recent time a containership capacity on order represented 30% of the trading fleet, was back in late 2011. According to the data, the teu order is record-breaking.
According to Braemar ACM, this, paired with record LNG purchases in the previous year, explains why both dry bulk and tanker owners have been struggling to source prompt delivery slots at Asian yards during this time.
The 30% ratio has yet to have been an agreed-upon figure with Clarksons. However, Braemar ACM estimates that net fleet growth in terms of teu capacity for 2022 will be in the range of 4%; with the yearly average net fleet increase for the years, 2023 and 2024 projected to be 10% each year. For 2023, Braemar ACM now estimates a scheduled 2.5m teu of new-building deliveries that are expected will cause a surge of deliveries in 2024.
It is expected that in 2024, according to Braemar ACM, the largest annual volume of new-building deliveries ever recorded will occur. Clarksons estimates the 2024 delivery figure at a whopping 3.5m teu, larger than the entire existent fleet of CMA CGM.
Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC), the world’s largest container line, with 1.33m teu on order, had the largest order book by some distance prior to May 1 of this year. Their orders are the equivalent of Maersk’s, CMA CGM’s, and Cosco’s combined.
The MSI further embedded its predictions in a recent statement saying, “We expect incremental new orders will slow sharply after Q2 22, especially as downside demand risks continue to mount”
