March / April 2021
Tank Containers Tanks still on the march
According to the 2020 ITCO Global Tank Container Survey , the worldwide tank fleet grew by more than 5 percent over 2019 . The latest survey estimates that , at 1 January 2021 , the global fleet stood at 686,650 units , compared with 652,350 on 1 January 2020 . This represents a year-on-year growth of 5.26 percent , down from the 7.88 percent growth achieved in the previous year . Not surprisingly market uncertainty during 2020 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic resulted in slower growth compared with previous years , although the fact that the industry kept growing when so many other sectors nosedived is a cause for celebration . In 2020 , a total of 35,800 tank containers were built , compared to 54,650 in 2019 . By the end of 2020 , the report says , there were clear signs of a recovery in orders for new equipment indicating a considerably improved situation in 2021 . But it should be noted that since the report was written the emergence of the global economy from the pandemic looks like being much slower than hoped for at the start of this year . Nevertheless , the benefits of the tank container as a ‘ just-in-time ’ mode of shipment are increasingly recognised , and operators are
Newport added more than 5,000 units to its fleet
succeeding in converting many cargoes previously shipped in drums or transported in chemical tankers to tank containers . In addition , China continued to see significant growth in the use of tanks for domestic transport of bulk liquids , while inter-Asia – especially South- East Asia – tank operations continue to develop strongly . Unlike in 2019 , when much of the investment was undertaken by the leasing sector , 2020 saw moderate expansion of both operator-owned and leasing company fleets . The market remains strong – with attractive prices for new containers ,
MAJOR OPERATORS 2020 2019 2018 Stolt Tank Containers UK 40,330 40,500 39,156 Hoyer Group Germany 35,500 34,700 33,881 Newport Netherlands 37,500 32,000 31,800 Bertschi Group Switzerland 26,400 25,000 23,300 Bulkhaul UK 24,000 23,000 22,500 China Railway Logistics China 23,200 20,879 20,879 Den Hartogh Logistics Netherlands 20,000 20,000 20,000 Intermodal Tank Transport USA 17,000 17,000 13,500 Interflow ( TCS ) UK 12,200 11,820 11,683 Eagletainer Logistics Singapore 10,500 10,120 8,860 Suttons International UK 9,500 9,000 8,500 VTG Tanktainer Germany 9,494 9,250 9,150 Nichicon Tank Japan 9,000 8,000 8,000 M & S Logistics UK 8,443 8,400 8,050 Dana Liquid Bulk USA 7,500 7,500 8,000
MAJOR LEASING COMPANIES 2020 2019 2018 EXSIF Worldwide USA 66,476 64,000 58,500 Eurotainer France 49,500 48,500 48,000 Seaco Global Singapore 43,000 42,000 43,000 Trifleet Leasing Netherlands 19,031 17,784 16,100
CS Leasing USA 18,030 15,500 10,120 Raffles Lease Singapore 16,000 15,100 13,240 Triton International USA 13,000 12,500 13,500 GEM Containers UK 11,500 9,800 9,200 Albatross Tank Leasing China 7,500 9,500 9,500 Peacock Container Netherlands 7,500 6,250 3,900 International Equipment USA 7,100 6,000 6,000 NRS Group Japan 7,000 7,000 7,000 TWS Tankcontainer Germany 6,345 8,300 8,360 Multistar Leasing South Africa 5,200 5,173 5,173 Tankspan Leasing UK 3,119 3,406 3,502 Matlack Leasing USA 2,500 2,500 2,500 MCM Management Switzerland 2,000 1,700 1,390 GRP Multilogistics Switzerland 1,600 1,600 1,600 Unitas Container Leasing Bermuda 1,600 1,600 1,600 Combipass France 1,500 1,500 1,500 Tristar Engineering Switzerland 1,100 1,100 1,100 Noble Container Leasing Hong Kong 1,300 1,300 1,000
MAJOR MANUFACTURERS 2020 2019 2018 CIMC Group China 18,000 27,000 29,500 Nantong Tank Container China 6,000 8,500 8,500 JJAP China 3,000 3,310 1,500 CRRC ( China Railroad ) China 2,800 1,510 3,600 Welfit Oddy South Africa 2,200 5,150 4,850 Singamas China 1,300 3,500 5,500 CXIC Group China 500 2,000 2,500 Van Hool Belgium 500 680 750
together with low interest rates and greater efficiencies by all sectors – contributing to a highly competitive industry . The unexpected shortage of capacity on containerships from Asia to the main markets of North America and Europe led to significantly increased freight rates , which also impacted the industry .
Operators
The industry continues to be dominated on a global level by a relatively small number of major tank container operators and leasing companies . The top 10 operators account for over 246,630 tanks , 55 percent of the global operator fleet . The largest global operator remains Stolt Tank Containers , followed by Hoyer Group . However , the biggest movement in terms of fleet growth was from third-placed Newport which added more than 5,000 units to its fleet bringing it to 37,500 . China Railway Logistics also invested significantly adding more than 2,300 tanks .
Lessors
The 10 biggest leasing companies account for over 250,000 tanks , about 79 percent of the leasing fleet . The top three companies , with nearly 159,000 tanks , control approximately half the total fleet . Most of the largest leasing companies added to fleet numbers during 2020 . However , most notable was the continued rise of new entrants to the market . CS Leasing , originally set up by dry box lessor Caru Container , has expanded now to 18,030 tanks , almost doubling in size from 2018 . GEM Container renewed its investment
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programme during the year , adding nearly 1,700 units to reach 11,500 .
Manufacturers
Given the slower growth in the global fleet during 2020 it is not surprising that most of the major manufacturers reported lower volumes ; the only exception being CRRC ( China Railroad ) which built 2,800 units against 1,510 in 2019 . Notably , recent entrant JJAP overtook two of the traditional manufacturing heavyweights – Welfit Oddy and Singamas – to become the third largest builder in 2020 .
The full report can be downloaded from the ITCO website . www . itco . org
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