Shipping container plays an essential role during the international trading, logistics and shipping processes, while the world’s top 10 largest shipping container manufacturers are currently dominating the global shipping container market by their leading production volume. Over the recent decades, shipping has become the backbone of the global trade, over 90% of world trade in goods is carried by the international seaborne shipping industry, which requires a large amount of shipping containers and shipping tanks to load, store, and transport various of goods in the international trading market. As the global trading activities continue to grow, the demand of shipping containers is expected to further increase, and the revenues of the world’s top 10 largest shipping companies are also forecast to rise in the coming years.
This industry fact sheet is to assist industry professionals, investors, and people in general that are interested in gaining insights into the global shipping container and shipping tank industry including:
- What is the global shipping container market size?
- What are the driving factors for the global shipping industry growth?
- Where are most shipping containers made?
- Who are the largest shipping container manufacturers?
- What are the shipping container industry trends for future?
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Global Shipping Container Industry Overview
What is shipping container? It is the common norm in the global shipping industry to user shipping container to contain, store and transport goods as containers can be moved seamlessly and efficiently stacked in ships, trucks, trains, and ports. International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has set standard sizes for all containers around the world to be 8ft (2.43m) wide, 8.5ft (2.59m) high and come in two lengths; 20ft (6.06m) and 40ft (12.2m). The 20-foot shipping container, referred to as a Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) has become the industry standard reference so now cargo volume and vessel capacity are commonly measured in TEU.
According to the recent industry report from Allied Market Research, The global shipping containers market was valued at $8.70 billion in 2019, and is projected to reach $12.08 billion by 2027, registering a CAGR of 4.3% for the forecast period 2020-2027. Factors such as increase in demand for cargo transportation through ships and rise in trade-related agreements supplement the growth of the shipping containers market.
Geographically, Asia-Pacific is the largest regional market for shipping containers, this is due to the rapid growth in the regional economy and development in the inter-Asia and intra-Asia trade. In addition, many Asian countries are encouraging the inter-Asian trade possibilities by creating trade barrier liberalization. This is resulting in a reduced gap between the Far Eastern-Europa and Far Eastern North America, which in turn, will positively influence the demand for containers among various end-users. China is currently the largest shipping container producing country in the world, representing over 85% of the world’s total shipping container production.Meanwhile, China is also the home for several world’s top 10 largest shipping container manufacturers, including CIMC, Singamas, CXIC, and CEC.
Top 10 Largest Shipping Container Manufacturers in the World 2020
China International Marine Container Group Co., Ltd. (CIMC) – Headquarters: Shenzhen, China
China International Marine Containers (Group) Ltd. (CIMC) is a world leading supplier of logistics and energy equipment, headquartered in Shenzhen of China. CIMC is engaged in supplying high-quality and reliable equipment and services, including containers, vehicles, energy, chemical and food equipment, offshore, logistics services, airport facilities, etc. CIMC is the world’s largest shipping container manufacturer with an annual capacity of 2 million containers and it is the first company to reach the mark of 2 million TEUs internationally.
Singamas Container Holdings Ltd. (SINGAMAS) – Headquarters: Shanghai, China
Founded in 1988, Singamas Container Holdings Limited is one of the world’s largest shipping container manufacturers with existing production capacity of 210 thousand twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). SINGAMAS offers a comprehensive range of products, including dry freight containers, collapsible flatrack containers, open top containers, bitutainers, tank containers, offshore containers and other specialised containers. The company is also a leading operator of terminals and container depots and provider of logistics services.
CXIC Group Containers Co., Ltd. (CXIC) – Headquarters: Changzhou, China
CXIC is a Chinese privately-owned enterprise specialised in container manufacturing. Its main products and services include ISO Sea Freight Dry Cargo containers, special containers, tank containers, container transportation etc. The group has over 8000 employees. The total annual production capacity is 900,000 TEU of ISO containers and 25,000 units of special containers. 90% of the its output are exported to over 40 countries and regions in the world.
China Eastern Containers (CEC) – Headquarters: Shanghai, China
China Eastern Containers is one of the world’s largest shipping container manufacturers in China, supplying premium products across North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. CEC is an ISO certified manufacturer of Shipping Containers, Storage Containers and Offshore Containers. Its manufacturing unit is located in the economic development zone of Shanghai with an area of over 300,000 meters square of factory and container yard. CEC’s annual production capacity is 150,000 TEU.
China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited – Headquarters: Shanghai, China
China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited is a Chinese business conglomerate and state-owned enterprise. The company was formed by the merger of the COSCO Group and the China Shipping Group in 2016. The group is currently engaged in a variety of business sectors, with a focus on integrated logistics, shipping, financial services, and shipping container manufacturing. The total fleet of COSCO SHIPPING comprises of 1310 vessels with a capacity of 105.92 million DWT, ranking No.1 in the world.
W&K Container Inc – Headquarters: California, USA
W&K Container has operated in the shipping industry since 1995 and has worldwide ISO container manufacturing and distribution capabilities. The company serves the U.S. Federal Government and Military as an approved contractor, supplies local and municipal governments as well as the private sector. With its vast global network and capability of delivering container products worldwide, W&K has become one of the world’s top 10 largest shipping container manufacturers in 2020.
Maersk Container Industry (MCI) – Headquarters: Copenhagen, Denmark
Maersk Container Industry (MCI) manufactures refrigerated containers and refrigeration machines for the intermodal industry, which covers shipping lines, fruit multinationals and leasing companies. MCI is part of A.P. Moeller – Maersk, an integrated transport and logistics company with multiple brands and a global leader in container shipping and ports.
TLS Offshore Containers International – Headquarters: Singapore
TLS Offshore Containers is one of the world’s leaders in manufacturing offshore containers, cabins, and modules according to the highest offshore standard DNV 2.7-1 / EN 12079. TLS’ manufacturing factory has an area of over 150,000 meters square factory, and 1600 staffs. It is one of the largest special container manufacturing bases in the world, providing global offshore container solutions to over 40 countries around the world.
YMC Container Solutions – Headquarters: East Yorkshire, UK
YMC Container Solutions is one of the world’s largest shipping container manufacturers based in the UK. The company produces wide range of containers, including equipment housings, multi-use containers, nuclear freight containers, offshore container systems, and swap body containers. The company also has BSEN ISO 9001:2008 quality management certification.
DCM Hyundai – Headquarters: Faridabad, India
DCM Hyundai Limited is a joint venture between DCM Shriram Industries Limited, India and Hyundai Mobis, Korea, established in 1993. DCM is mainly engaged in manufacturing and suppling containers, cargo handling units and load carrying bodies for various applications. The company also manufactures and supplies all kinds of trailers, tip trailers, car carriers, containerized bodies for movement of white goods.
Global Shipping Container Industry Trends for Future
The rising adoption of smart shipping containers is one of the major shipping container industry trends that has been witnessed over the recent years and this segment is expected to maintain a strong growth rate over the near future. Smart shipping containers are knowns as the shipping containers with IoT capabilities and smart sensors technology, which can be better tracked and monitored during the shipping process. As part of the transportation management systems (TMS), in combination with IoT software and communication networks, each smart shipping container is expected to provide valuable live data feeds to the control, which helps significantly to improve shipping management around the world.
