Severe container shortage pushing up exporters' cost of doing business

The modest revival in exports has brought some cheer to a whole swathe of industries from automobiles to textiles. Exporters would have been cheering louder had their efforts not been limited by the most basic of shortages: Containers.

This is an unusual imbalance caused by the lag in the revival of domestic demand following the Covid-19 lockdown. In normal times, shipping companies usually have more empty containers on offer to transport Indian exports, since imports are higher than exports. This time, subdued imports — a function of poor demand in India — has meant that there are fewer containers entering Indian