Global Tank Container fleet surpasses 800,000 units : ITCO

CHICAGO - According to this year’s International Tank Container Organisation (ITCO) survey, the global tank container fleet hit 801,800 units on 1 January 2023, up from 737,935 on 1 January2022,representingan8.6%increaseyearonyear.

Inordertomeettheongoinghighdemandfornewequipment, a total of 67,865 new tank containers were constructed, up from 53,285newunitstheprioryear–a14,580unitrise.

The survey demonstrates how, in terms of numbers, the industry is still controlled on a worldwide scale by a relatively small number of large tank container owners and leasing firms. The top 10 tank container operators account for over 281,160 tanks, representing over 49% of the global tank container operators’ fleet, while the top 10 leasing companies account for

299,300tanks,representingabout83%ofthetotalleasingfleet.

“This growth in demand in 2022 was fuelled by the massive disruption and challenges in the supply chain during the Covid-19 Pandemic – which has underlined the critical role that the tank container can, and does, play in the logistics requirements of the tank container’smajorcustomers,”saidRegLee,presidentofITCO.

He went on to add, “This resulted in manufacturers ramping up production to meet short-term high demand, The knock-on effect of this will be an oversupply of tanks, a reduction of new production –and, possibly an increase in the number of tanks being disposed of.”