An estimated 260,000 TEU of cargo is expected to flood the market at the Port of Shanghai this summer, making this year's peak season even busier than last.

According to Drewry's latest analysis, the world's leading independent global maritime advisory and research organization, the pandemic lockdown and port congestion are causing problems for the global container distribution system, which is already under severe strain and facing reduced capacity due to widespread congestion.

Given that the summer peak season is usually busier than ever, a rebound in Shanghai could underpin a strong peak season as well as bring new capacity shortages anyway, Drewry said.

According to Drewry, the pandemic lockdown prevented up to 260,000 TEU of export cargo from leaving Shanghai in April, equating to 26 fully loaded 10,000 TEU container ships that will need to be located in the following months when the supply chain reopens.

"At this point, the biggest uncertainty is when the lockdown embargo restrictions will end and the impact this will have on the entire supply chain. Factories will need to replenish their raw material inventories and liner shipping schedules will take at least one rotation to get back to normal." Drewry said.

"It's tougher than usual to predict exactly what will happen during this year's peak season since there are so many contradicting indicators and intangibles," said Christian Roeloffs, co-Founder and CEO of Container xChange.