According to statistics from Drewry, an independent maritime research consultancy, the production of 20ft containers dropped by 71% year on year to 306,000 units in the first quarter of 2022. The obvious decrease was mainly due to lower demand for goods after the epidemic restrictions were eased.

Demand for exports has weakened since COVID-19 restrictions were lifted and economies were reopened, resulting in a surplus of containers that overwhelmed ports in China.

Global shipping giant Maersk said it is stopping producing dry containers until at least 2024, but the production of 20ft containers might be resumed earlier than 40ft containers due to more resilient demand for the former ones.