Low material costs and stable demand has driven the price of new container equipment down to record lows where it is forecast to stay, according to the latest edition of the Container Census report published by global shipping consultancy Drewry.

The container equipment index price hit a 10-year low in June 2015, falling below $1,750 per CEU equivalent (or 20ft standard). The index fell sharply in late 2012 before stabilising at just above $2,000 per teu throughout much of 2013-14, but has declined sharply this year.

“Much of the recent reduction resulted from a fall in material and production costs rather than any decline in demand or oversupply,” said Drewry’s lead analyst for container equipment Andrew Foxcroft. “Drewry is forecasting that the price index will, at best, hold at $1,800 per CEU for much of 2015-16, although it may go even lower.”

The global container equipment fleet amounted to 36.57 million teu at the end of 2014, having increased in size by 6.2% during 2014, which marked a small improvement over that of the preceding two years. The fleet is forecast to expand at an annualised rate of close to 5% through 2015 to 2018, in line with the continuing modest outlook for trade growth.

The biggest numerical growth, over 10%, was calculated for the maritime 40ft high-cube fleet of principally dry freight and reefer containers, as against 5% for the 20ft counterpart. By the end of 2014 the 40ft high cube fleet accounted for the majority of all maritime equipment (in TEU) for the first time.