Lessors steeling for some tricky decisions

Container lessors could be forgiven for thinking that the events of the past few months have been conspiring against them. With demand for leased equipment running high, utilisation at near-optimum levels and all the signs indicating that the boom in the container shipping industry is not about to go away, the argument for investing in new equipment has rarely been more compelling. Building on the high levels of newbuilding activity seen last year, when a record total of 1.1 mill TEU were built for the leased container fleet, most lessors were anticipating a similar - if not even greater - output this year....