TransContainer does not see containerized freight market growing in 2025

MOSCOW. April 18 (Interfax) - TransContainer , a division of Delo Group, expects Russia's containerized freight market to stagnate this year.

"In terms of volumes, we're currently seeing near-zero growth on the container shipping market, it's up around half a percent from last year's level and, unfortunately, we don't see very big prospects for growth on the horizon of a year. We expect some kind of rebound, perhaps modest growth at the end of the third and in the fourth quarter," TransContainer senior vice president Viktor Markov said Thursday at a meeting of the Expert Club of the Eurasian Union of Freight Railway Transport Participants.

The key problem is a glut of inventory and lack of consumer demand in Russia, a lack of demand for imported automobiles, he said.

"We know that today, by various estimates, about 800,000 automobiles are in warehouses. This was a substantial component of containerized freight imports. In other words, consumption is not growing because of [high interest rates], so there is a glut and imports are not growing either. Therefore, the key assumption is, after all, that the container market will not show growth," Markov said.

TransContainer is Russia's largest operator of well cars, with a fleet of about 41,000 cars and 140,000 high-capacity containers as of the end of 2024. The company owns 38 railway terminals in Russia.