Challenges & Opportunities in India’s Container Market

The container industry serves as the backbone of international trade, ensuring smooth and efficient flow of goods across borders. Inland Container Depots (ICDs) and Container Freight Stations (CFS) are vital hubs in the logistics chain, enhancing efficiency and connectivity in the container industry. However, the Container Industry has been experiencing challenging times in the last few years due to volatility in freight rates, shortage of containers post-Covid, and certain geo-political factors that have adversely impacted availability of raw materials for manufacturing containers. In this article, players in the Container industry share their marketing strategies, the technological advancements being made, and challenges in making global trade more seamless, efficient and manageable, with Divya Joshi Kumar.


According to the report ‘India Container Market Size, Share & Trend Analysis’ by Grand View Research, India’s’ container market size can be valued at USD 10.3 billion by 2028 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 1.7% during the forecast period. The increase in trade agreements across nations is leading to increase in maritime shipping. As per a report published by IBEF, almost 95% of the trade volume in India is handled by maritime transportation. Factors like expansion of e-commerce, digitalization in container shipping, rising demand for specialized containers, and increase in demand for commodities and rapid urbanization are expected to fuel market growth. The logistics industry is seeing significant developments in commercial vessels and innovations with cargo ships being equipped with technologies such as navigation systems, sensors, and other components, which are increasing demand for transportation through ships, and in turn propelling growth of the container market. Demand for cargo transportation via ports is driving regional market expansion, besides the above factors.

A major growth aspect for both international and domestic businesses will involve optimizing the internal logistics chains – an opportunity which is expected to positively impact demand for containers in India. Furthermore, increased investments made in the research & development of advanced materials for the manufacture of containers by major players and advances in technologies are expected to propel opportunities for market players. However, inconsistency in inventory and transportation costs are projected to act as a challenge for the industry expansion, as per the report.

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