A world with a more diverse manufacturing base would curtail or stop the costly rise of empty container moving over long distances on the major east-west routes, which according to Drewry's latest update costs billions of dollars annually.

“The process of spreading the production burden from China is well underway, but the country's export dominance will continue for many years to come, as will most regional container surpluses and shortages.”

The fragmentation of the global political order is changing who buys what from whom, and greater diversity in trading partners offers hope to improve the woeful imbalances in the container sector, the update said.

Since 2010, Asia has been the only net exporting region, and the aim is to reposition the large number of empty containers the country needs from everywhere else (see Figure 1).