The big surprise for shipping stocks has been the outperformance of certain container industry names despite the post-boom plunge in volumes and freight rates. Container-equipment lessor Textainer (NYSE: TGH) is a case in point.
Textainer’s stock just hit its highest price since the company went public in 2007. Its shares are doing even better than they did at the peak of the COVID-era boom.
Box leasing companies are in close contact with their customers — the shipping lines — and during a conference call Tuesday, Textainer CEO Olivier Ghesquiere relayed what he’s seeing in the liner business right now. It’s far from doom and gloom.
Ocean carrier volumes picking up
“There are initial signs of higher ship loadings as well as firming ocean freight rates on major shipping routes,” Ghesquiere said. “Cargo volumes have started to recover over the past few weeks. There is growing optimism that August will see further ocean rate hikes, especially on the trans-Pacific routes, where ship utilization has recently been much stronger.
“Our customers expect the inventory destocking cycle to come to an end soon, paving the way for the need to replenish inventory ahead of the winter holiday season. As such, our shipping line customers anticipate cargo volume to pick up in the second half of the year.”
Ghesquiere also commented on how his liner customers are handling a massive influx of newly built container vessels. “Those ships have already started arriving and it has given us a good indication of what shipping lines are doing with them.
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