Cheap reefer containers and low interest rates are two of the biggest challenges facing lessors such as Seaco, according to Nigel Webster, its director of refrigerated containers.

Webster, who was speaking about cold chain finance at the first Cool Logistics Asia conference in Hong Kong, said that equipment prices had come down considerably in the last five years, after a forty-year period of relative stability.

"I've been in this business for 26 years," he said. "I've never seen a reefer container cost as little as it does today."

The interest rate level is another factor affecting the leasing business.

"Equipment rates are at an all-time low, and interest rates are at an all-time low," said Webster. "So it's not actually surprising that lease rates are also at an all-time low."

By Jeffrey Lee

Staff Writer | Hong Kong

[The full version of this story will be published in the next issue of Asia Cargo News.]