Why empty shipping containers are piling up in Australia

You don’t have to be an Australian supply chain operator for this article to be relevant. If you want to understand, in a nutshell, how empty containers have built up in Australia – and the lessons here apply to any importing country with a trade imbalance with Asia exporters – the country’s liner lobby group, Shipping Australia, has put together an easy-to-understand analysis.

“Covid is at the heart of the problem. Deprived of holidays, socialising with friends and nights out, consumers around Australia (and indeed, around the world) have gone on a massive and frenzied retail therapy bender. Because the demand for goods has gone into orbit, the demand for shipping services and for containers has, likewise, gone into orbit.”