While government and industry leaders in India continually call for greater equipment availability to keep pace with rising exports, an analysis of port data reveals one exceptional fact: a sequential rise in the export of empty containers through the country’s larger ports.
For example, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (Nhava Sheva) saw empty exports reach 127,000 TEU between November and January, from about 104,000 TEU of empty boxes sent out in the prior three months. In contrast, empty imports...