Containerisation

In this short topic video we look at the scale of containerisation in the world economy and the significance of containerisation for global trade in goods.

OVERVIEW

• Containerisation is a system of freight transport for use in sea shipping that has reduced the transport costs of moving thousands of different goods across the globe.
• Containers have standardised dimensions.
• Containerisation has been a catalyst for globalisation.
• A container can be handled anywhere in the world and ships, port equipment etc. adjusts to handling them with optimum efficiency and with big economies of scale
• Manufacturers can optimise their packaging to fit into a container and thus lower the unit cost of transportation
• By lowering the costs of trade containerisation has encouraged specialisation and the expansion of global supply chains.