Tobias Meyer, chief executive of German logistics giant DHL, warned on Wednesday that continued disruption to global trade caused by Houthi attacks in the Red Sea could lead to shortages of containers in Asia in the coming weeks.Meyer told a panel discussion at the Davos forum that such shortages could occur because there may not be enough containers to ship back to Asia.

"We have to keep an eye on this," he said. However, he also mentioned that the current disruptions are not comparable to the supply chain difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic three or four years ago.

In an update on the situation in the Red Sea published on DHL's official website last week, the company warned that "shipping costs on important trade routes are increasing for the foreseeable future as all major shipping lines have suspended services on the Red Sea route and are moving their ships to Africa near the Cape of Good Hope, which will add approximately two weeks to shipping time."

DHL warned on its website that "equipment issues have begun to manifest and are expected to worsen. This is due to the failure of ships to return to Asia on time, resulting in a shortage of equipment available for future shipments."

Currently, the Red Sea crisis is still simmering. The Houthi armed forces attacked container ships, resulting in restricted traffic in the Red Sea and Suez Canal and the diversion of ships. The direct impact is a shortage of containers and a reduction in ship capacity. In the past, when there was a shortage of empty containers, Asian ports were often the "hardest hit areas."

Data from shipping consultancy Vespucci Maritime shows that before the Chinese New Year, the volume of containers arriving at Asian ports is expected to be 780,000 TEU (international unit of 20-foot containers) less than before.

According to industry insiders, in some places where there is a shortage of containers, carriers have begun to favor VIP customers and customers with high spot deposits. andAs the return efficiency of empty containers becomes lower after the detour, coupled with the peak shipments before the Lunar New Year, the shortage crisis of empty containers, transportation capacity, and shipping space may become increasingly prominent in mid-to-late January.

Che Meichao, a macroeconomic analyst at Yide Futures, pointed out in an interview with the media, "The European route space continued to be tight last week, and the average space utilization rate of ships was close to 100%. In addition, concentrated deviations increased port congestion, and delayed arrivals combined with the domestic peak shipping season before the Spring Festival, the number of containers in transit increased, and the return of empty containers slowed down."

Facing the crisis of shortage of empty containers, some shipping companies and freight forwarders have also begun to take action. According to data from multiple shipping platforms, many shipping companies have recently adjusted and shortened the container usage cycle, and some liner companies are also speeding up the return of empty containers to avoid shortages of empty containers at Asian origin ports.