Singamas sold 43,000 TEU of new containers in the first half of 2026, down 49% from the same period last year, and its average selling price on 20-foot dry boxes fell to $1,613 from $1,845, according to the company’s August 25 interim results as reported by Container News on September 6. Nationwide retail pricing on used 20-foot units went the other direction, up roughly 2.6% over the trailing twelve months to an average of $1,786, per Container Management’s 2026 cost guide. The factory gate and the retail counter are not the same market, and this quarter they are pulling apart.
A falling factory ASP does not arrive in your driveway as a discount, and a Northeast buyer who waits for it will spend the fall waiting. Below is what the half-year manufacturer and lessor numbers actually measure, why the retail line moved the other way, and which three items on a quote carry the money. Our running read on the trends shaping the container sales industry has tracked these two lines separating since spring.
What the Half-Year Manufacturer Numbers Actually Say
Singamas had a hard six months. Revenue fell 23.0% year on year to $193.8 million and net profit attributable to shareholders dropped 56.5% to $5.8 million, from $13.4 million in the first half of 2025, per WorldCargo News coverage of the August 25 release. The company named ISO dry container production overcapacity as the pressure on price.
Volume across the industry did not fall with it. CIMC sold 1,246,700 TEU in the first half, up 2% year on year, and Shanghai Universal Logistics Equipment, part of COSCO Shipping Development, sold 958,600 TEU, up 13%, according to Container News. The three manufacturers together moved about 2.25 million TEU, up 5% on the year, so more boxes were built and sold at lower prices by fewer profitable builders.
The leasing side shows the same shape. Triton reported in its Form 6-K for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 that its gain on sale of leasing equipment fell to $2.0 million from $7.9 million a year earlier, driven primarily by a lower average selling price on used dry containers. Average utilization in the same quarter was 98.0%, up from 97.1% in the first quarter and down from 98.4% a year earlier. Boxes are working. They are just fetching less when a lessor sells one out of the fleet.
That is a real wholesale signal, and it sits two steps removed from the number on a Northeast quote sheet.
Why Are Retail Used Container Prices Rising While Factory Prices Fall?
Retail used prices are rising because a US retail price is set mostly by domestic depot supply, unit grade, and trucking, with new-build cost as a distant input. Container Management’s 2026 cost guide puts the nationwide average at $1,786 for a used 20-foot unit, $2,187 for a used 40-foot standard, and $2,288 for a used 40-foot high cube, all three up roughly 2.6% to 3.3% against the prior twelve months as of September 2026. For a Bergen County buyer pricing a used 20-foot cargo-worthy unit for winter equipment storage, the Singamas ASP is a number about a new box leaving a factory in Asia, while the quote in hand is a number about a used box already sitting forty minutes away.
Those are different supply chains running on different clocks. A new-build price change works through an order, a sailing, a port, a depot, and a dealer’s replacement cycle before it touches a retail list, a six to twelve month path in a normal year, while a depot’s local stock level changes a retail price the same week.
The trucking line moves faster than either. Delivery runs roughly $350 to $850 for most US addresses within 100 miles of a depot, per Container Management’s 2026 delivery cost data as of September 2026, with long hauls reaching several times that. On a $1,786 box, a $600 delivery is a third of the invoice, and no factory ASP touches it.
The Three Lines That Set Your Delivered Price
Grade is the first line and the largest one. The spread between an as-is unit, a wind-and-watertight unit, and a cargo-worthy unit of the same size and age is routinely four figures, and whoever is selling applies the label. Two dealers can both write cargo-worthy on a quote and hand you units that inspect very differently, which is why our inspection checklist walks the floor, the gaskets, the door seal, and the CSC plate rather than the paperwork.
Depot position is the second. Where a unit physically sits today sets its trucking cost, and trucking is the fastest-moving line on the quote. A coastal surplus market and an inland yard can differ by a four-figure amount on the same used 20-foot unit before anyone discusses condition, which is the biggest reason a national price list is a starting point rather than a quote. Our guide to where to buy used shipping containers covers how dealers, brokers, and listing sites differ on whether they will even tell you.
Site access is the third, and buyers underweight it consistently. The pattern we see across Northeast quotes is that a buyer arrives with a printed national average, asks why our number is higher, and has not yet measured the approach to the pad. Overhead wires, a 12-foot gate, a soft shoulder after a wet week, or a turn a truck cannot make all convert a routine placement into a two-visit job with equipment charges attached. Matching shipping container dimensions to the actual approach before you shop is free, and our delivery and placement guide covers what a Northeast site needs to be ready.
Those three lines explain nearly the whole distance between a wholesale headline and a delivered number, and none of them softened this quarter.
Does a Softer Wholesale Market Give Northeast Buyers Room to Negotiate?
Yes, but the room is in terms and timing rather than in the headline unit price. Muwon USA’s September 2026 US wholesale container market outlook, with a research cutoff of September 7, describes the month as a competitive market for interchangeable, available dry containers rather than a broad restocking rally, and notes specifically for Northeast and inland markets that similar quoted prices can carry very different supply lead times. For a Lehigh Valley contractor who needs a unit on site before the first hard freeze, a quote that is $150 higher and releases this week beats a quote that is $150 lower and releases when a lot clears, and the second quote is the one that reads better on paper.
Ask when a unit releases, and treat that answer as part of the price. That question separates real inventory from advertised inventory faster than any price comparison, and in a competitive month sellers answer it least precisely.
The rest of the demand picture argues against expecting a broad retail drop. Census data put July nominal construction spending 3.8% below a year earlier, and WillScot reported second-quarter portable storage leasing revenue of roughly $74.9 million against $79.6 million a year earlier. Softer end demand and softer factory pricing can still sit alongside a flat retail counter for months, because the box in that depot was bought at last year’s cost. If you want the cheaper end of the current market, our overview of affordable buying paths beats waiting.
How to Price a Container in a Split Market
First, ignore national averages as a target and use them only as a sanity check. A number like $1,786 tells you a quote of $4,900 for a used 20-foot unit deserves questions. It does not tell you what your address should pay. Our piece on negotiating container prices covers which lines on a quote actually move, and grade and delivery are usually the two that do.
Second, get every quote as a delivered number to your address. Ex-depot pricing and delivered pricing are different products, and comparing one against the other is where most bad container purchases start. Ask for the container price, the transport, and any site or permit charges as separate lines on the same sheet.
Third, price the grades against each other rather than against the market. A wind-and-watertight unit at $1,400 and a cargo-worthy unit at $2,100 for the same size is a $700 question about what you are storing and for how long, and it has a clear answer for most buyers. Our overview of the different container types for sale covers where the grade lines actually fall, including on used shipping containers and on the smaller 20-foot units that most Northeast storage buyers start with.
Fourth, put the release date in writing. In a competitive supply month, timing is the term with the most give in it and the least attention on it.
Your step this week takes about twenty minutes and does not require calling anyone. Walk the delivery approach to your pad with a tape measure and write down three numbers: the narrowest width a truck must pass, the lowest overhead clearance on the route, and the longest straight run available at the drop point. Those three numbers change which container you can buy and what placement will cost, and having them before you shop is worth more than any headline about factory pricing.
The Bottom Line
Factory ASPs fell, lessor resale prices fell, and US retail used prices went up 2.6% to 3.3% over the past year. All three are true because they measure different markets, and the distance between them is grade, depot position, and trucking. A buyer waiting for the wholesale softness to show up as a retail discount this fall is waiting on a mechanism that runs six to twelve months and gets absorbed by delivery costs on the way.
We quote the delivered number, we tell you where the unit is sitting and when it actually releases, and we will say plainly when a wind-and-watertight box does the job you described. For new and used shipping containers across New York, New Jersey, and the wider Northeast, request a quote today.
Note: we use AI to help draft market-analysis pieces like this; a team member edits every article before it publishes.
Sources: Container News, Singamas container sales plunge 49% in first half of 2026, September 6, 2026; WorldCargo News coverage of Singamas 2026 interim results, August 25, 2026; Triton International Form 6-K for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, filed with the SEC; Container Management 2026 shipping container cost and delivery cost guides; Muwon USA September 2026 US Wholesale Container Market Outlook, research cutoff September 7, 2026; US Census Bureau Monthly Construction Spending, July 2026 release; WillScot Holdings second quarter 2026 results, August 6, 2026.