Looking for affordable container leasing rates? Find best deals here

If you’re on the prowl for cost-effective container leasing rates, look no further than our blog to bag top leasing deals and get the lowdown on leasing.

There’s no doubt that container leasing rates are unpredictable with market fluctuations. But when you need a container for short-term or one-time use, leasing tumps buying any day. So, how do you get good deals on container leasing rates?

Hop onto the Container xChange platform of course! We are a neutral marketplace for containers. We offer you 10,000+ container types and conditions from 2,500+ locations worldwide.

With us, you get the most competitive lease rates on boxes with zero hidden fees. You also get full market transparency wherein you get to negotiate prices directly with the supplier to come up with a quote you’re comfortable with. This way you don’t end up paying more than you should.

The best part is that you make these deals with 1000+ vetted members directly. Because all the suppliers on our platform go through a mandatory vetting process so that you only work with certified members.

Before we move ahead, try out our public search below to find container leasing offers in your location. All you need to do is choose “I want to use containers”, select a drop-off and pick-up location, and hit “search” to find available containers near you.

Container leasing: An overview

It’s always good to brush up on the basics before we move forward. So, let’s talk a little about leasing.

When you lease a container, you pay to use it for a set period of time before returning it to the owner. Basically, your company acquires the containers from a leasing company for a particular duration in exchange for a fixed payment, all in accordance with some pre-established rules. The rules include things such as free days, per diem charges, the duration of the lease, and other important details.

These rules vary based on the type of leasing agreement signed between you and the leasing company. You can read more about the different lease agreements towards the end of the blog. But before you get there, have a look at this image to see all the benefits you get with leasing.

Container leasing rates and the current market landscape

Let’s now help you understand where the current leasing market stands. To understand this, we have to take you back into the past. Rewinding back to 2020 when the pandemic hit the demand for containers increased because people were locked in at home with money coming in and not having many outlets to spend it. Hence, they started spending on goods, and shipping increased. This added more demand, which means there were more containers needed to ship more products. This is the time demand for containers skyrocketed and went miles above the supply. Because supply became lower than demand the prices of containers and leasing rates went up extraordinarily high. There was a container availability shortage which contributed to the high prices.

Fast forward to 2021-2022, to fill the demand for rising containers manufacturers started producing more containers which lead to an influx of containers into the market to balance the supply and demand scales. Though the orders were placed in 2020 they started arriving in 2021. This is when supply increased and demand fell.

Along with this, there were extreme levels of container congestion in a few ports due to the high number of orders placed in a day. Additionally, lockdowns hampered the flow of containers which took out the capacity from the market. So due to this, containers were stuck in port and there was a shortage again. After the lockdowns were lifted those containers got released. So, the old freed ones and the new ones joined the global fleet of containers. This eradicated the shortage and lead to a surplus of containers, hence, we currently see lowered container prices.

The lowest average container prices in the month of October

The information above about the market can help you to make better business decisions to ensure quality outcomes. If you want to get more insights into the current market trends and falling container leasing rates, download our September report: Where are all the containers?

Now keeping the current market landscape in mind let’s have a look at container prices at three locations on our platform:

• Shanghai: In Shanghai, the price of a 20ft cargo-worthy container is US $1,800, and a 40ft cargo- worthy container is US $1,900.
• Rotterdam: In Rotterdam the price of a 40ft HC cargo-worthy container is US $1,933, and a 20ft cargo-worthy container is US $1,200.
• Houston: In Houston, the price of a 20ft brand new container is US $2,600, and the price of a brand new 40 HC container is US $4,220.

The falling container leasing rates in China

Taking everything into account we discussed above we want to put special focus on China because China is in adverse shape. This information can help you thoroughly understand the situation to make informed business actions when it comes to container leasing rates in China.

China has been struggling. Average container prices have declined to more than half from the last year in August. This decline in average container prices and leasing rates offers good opportunities for shippers and freight forwarding companies to plan their cargo movements accordingly.

This is what our co-founder and CEO Christian Roeloffs has to say about the situation in China, “this is the peak shipping season, and the industry expects heavy outflow of containers from China to fulfill orders from demand centers. This year, we haven’t witnessed two key trends that are a norm during this time in previous years – a rise in leasing rates and container prices in China and a decline in CAx values.”

Our data shows a significant drop in the average per unit rates for 40HCs from China to Europe and North American countries. Canada is leading the fall with a 49.4% drop in leasing rates between June and July. Right behind Canada is the US with a 32.5% drop in the average pick-up (PU) rates. For countries in Europe, the average one-way PU charges from China dropped by 16% in the UK, 13% in Germany, 18.4% in France, and 17.3% in Belgium.

To get a better understanding of how one-way leasing rates have dropped in China from last year to 2022 have a look at our graph below.

Container leasing rates: One-way leasing

That’s a wrap on the market trends and prices. Let’s now move on to a form of leasing that’ll save you the most amount of money on empty container repositioning.

You know how empty container repositioning is an expensive affair for your business. But you can save all that money you currently use on moving empty containers. How? Well, by leasing one-way containers – also known as cabotage containers – can help you in this regard .

With one-way leasing, you use the container only one way e.g., from Hamburg, Germany to Shanghai, China. That’s it. Your company leases the shipping container for that one journey. This way your cargo gets delivered to where it’s needed without you having to worry about repositioning costs thereafter.

You can make things even better here by leasing SOC containers on our platform for one-way leases. With SOCs you can save a lot of money on demurrage and detention (D&D) as your daily rental fees do not depend on the duration of the rental. They stay the same price per day. Also, since they are shipper owned if your container gets stuck in port due to port congestion or vessel delays you get exempted from paying any hefty D&D charges too.

So, taking the example above, if you need to move your goods from Hamburg to Shanghai you can lease a SOC container on our platform for your shipment. Once you have moved the cargo one way you can sell the container again on our platform at a good price and help in repositioning them – voila!

Why do some buyers pay for repositioning?

It’s important to take note here that there are many owners who pay for container repositioning because in certain locations it’s very difficult to get a container out from there. An example is India. In India, it takes a lot of money to take a container out of an Indian port. So if no requests are coming in to reposition the container; to incentivize people to use that container in case there’s no buyer the owner will pay the price for repositioning it.

Another reason buyers pay is to make better business decisions. For example, suppose you have containers stuck in India gaining no profit because there are not many shipments that go out from there. You decide to move it to Vietnam where there is more cargo currently. Then you’ll need to pay the price to reposition it there. And because the leasing rates are higher in Vietnam you might as well reposition it there to earn that amount back in a demand surplus.

Container leasing rates: 20ft, and 40ft HC containers

Let’s now explore the one-way leasing rates of standard container types on the Container xChange platform so you can get a sense of our prices. Listed below are two stretches and the average prices of one-way leasing a 20ft container and a 40ft HC container.

1. Hamburg to Shanghai- the average price of leasing a 40ft HC brand new container on this stretch is US $1,300.
2. Moscow to Qingdao- the average price of leasing a 20ft cargo-worthy container on this stretch is US $244.

Aren’t the container leasing rates at competitive market prices on our platform? Let’s move ahead then and get you that box to lease.

Types of leasing agreements

Before you get to your box, we want to leave you with some info on the different kinds of lease agreements and what they entail. If you want more in-depth information about these agreements you can click on our separate blog here.

Master lease	Long term lease	Short term lease	One way lease
Duration can vary	5–8 years	Longer than 6 months	Duration can vary
Maintenance is done by the leasing company	The lessee takes care of maintenance	Upkeep of the container is done by the lessee	Servicing is managed by the lessee
Drop off location is restricted	The final drop location is very limited	Location of the last drop is very controlled	The shipper decides the drop off location

Crack the best deals on container leasing rates with Container xChange

As our blog comes to a close on container leasing rates, we want to give you a recap, of what you can get on our platform:

• Full market transparency – all rates and fees that you see are stated upfront and are negotiable. This way, you can be sure what you’re paying and why, before signing a deal.
• Competitive rates for leasing which are difficult to find outside of the platform.
• One-way leasing containers to curb repositioning costs.
• And 10,000+ container types to choose from.

All this can help you secure affordable container leasing rates for your shipping needs. If you’re worried about multiple bills – don’t stress. We have an easy-to-use and secure payment handling feature, the xChange wallet. This generates only one bill for you to pay, so you don’t have to deal with different companies and country regulations. And manages all your transactions in one place.

As for partners to work with you get to view profiles of companies and see the ratings and reviews given to them by their partners to help you make informed decisions about whom you want to work with. Remember you can choose from a list of 1000+vetted and certified members we have on our platform. You can also monitor your containers in real-time and get accurate status updates and tracking alerts.

That sounds like a good deal on container leasing rates, doesn’t it? Think of all the money you’re saving coupled with the security of working with trusted partners. Go on and lease a container on our platform today. Click on the banner below to let our expert team help get you started.

Container leasing rates: Common FAQs

What is container leasing?

When you lease a container, you pay to use it for a set period of time before returning it to the owner.

What are the types of leasing agreements?

There are master leases, long-term leases, short-term leases, and one-way leases.

What is one-way leasing?

For a one-way lease, the company leases a shipping container for one journey.

What is the price of a 40ft container?

The price of a 40ft container can range anywhere between US $3,000 to US $5000 depending on the condition and the distance it’s traveling.

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