Trade and tariff analytics
2026-04-26
11 minute read
17 sources
Container shipping 2026: the newbuild glut, the Red Sea reroute, and the tariff stack
A 31.6 million TEU fleet is taking record deliveries into a market still pulled long by the Cape of Good Hope detour and reshaped by Trump 2.0 tariffs and the Section 301 China shipbuilding remedy. We map fleet, rates, alliance reset, and the 2026 to 2028 corridor.
Clarksons placed the global container fleet at about 31.6 million TEU at end 2024 with an orderbook running at roughly 24 percent of fleet, the highest cover since 2008. Calendar 2024 deliveries hit a record 2.9 million TEU and 2025 is expected near 2.0 million TEU. Yet effective supply has been absorbed by the Red Sea diversion: Suez tra...