Charting the evolution of the tank container leasing industry is a fascinating task. What started as a very niche part of the equipment rental market, tank lessors have grown into large – and at times very profitable – companies.
Leasing plays a valuable role in smoothing out the ups and downs of tank container operations; during periods of growing demand, lessors can supply much-needed equipment to operators and when demand falters, the leasing companies take back excess tanks and try and find new customers for them.
For shippers and tank operators, buying equipment is capital intensive. Leasing frees up capital so users can focus on their core business instead of tying up cash in assets.
In addition, demand for transporting chemicals, foodstuffs, or specialty liquids can be seasonal or project-based, so leasing allows companies to quickly scale fleets up or down without long-term asset commitments. And, as tank lessors operate worldwide, this makes it easier for cargo owners to source equipment close to loading points and return them near discharge points. The leasing firm can also handle, or at least help, with repositioning the emptied tank, reducing empty mileage costs for the cargo owner.
Finally, many tank lessors maintain fleets of specialty tanks, for example, lined ones for corrosive acids, cryogenic units for gases, or heated tanks for oils. As shippers often cannot justify purchasing special tanks that might be used rarely – and are usually much more expensive – leasing bridges this gap.
But today’s tank container sector is not just about physical assets. The increasing consolidation among tank lessors reflects a broader shift in how the industry must respond to complexity: digitalisation, supply chain integration, and the demand for real-time tracking and analytics. With fewer players dominating a larger share of the market, technology has become a crucial differentiator enabling efficiency, data-driven fleet management, and seamless integration with customers’ operational systems.
For the first few decades of its existence, the tank leasing sector made for steady, if largely uneventful, progress. But the past 10 or so years have been marked by two significant trends: a tendency towards greater industry concentration, and the growing role of non-traditional sources of finance, particularly private equity.
Following the financial crash of 2008, smaller niche tank leasing companies sprung up and rapidly built significant fleets. There were several reasons that made this possible. Many of the new lessors were effectively start-ups founded by former executives of established leasing companies, who were able to benefit from ready access to low-cost finance as global interest rates hit rock bottom. On the supply side, a growing number of tank container manufacturers, particularly in China, was driving down newbuild prices such that the capital investment required for a brand-new fleet was not particularly onerous.
Around the same time, private equity finance began showing serious interest in equipment leasing and thus opened a path for lessors to tap new sources of finance.
Not surprisingly, the result was an oversupply of tanks on the market, with a predictable negative impact on lease rates, through the late 2010s. While tank lessors were generally able to ride out this modest downturn, the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic placed new pressures on the sector.
And so started a spurt of industry mergers and takeovers
In 2018, the 10 largest leasing companies accounted for about 75% of the total leasing fleet, with the top three players owning about 53% of the total fleet. A year later, the ITCO Survey identified 36 leasing companies of which the top 10 managed 227,500 tanks, about 82% of the total leasing fleet. The three biggest companies held 54% of the total.
A significant event during this period was the acquisition of Taylor Minster Leasing, one of the pioneers of tank container rentals, by Eurotainer, owned at that time by a subsidiary of France’s state-owned railway SNCF. That alone put 5,000 tank containers under Eurotainer’s ownership propelling the French lessor into the position of second largest player.
Then in 2019, Eurotainer’s parent Ermewa bought Raffles Lease from Hamburg-based Buss Group. While continuing to operate Raffles as a separate brand and company, it effectively placed an additional 14,000 tanks under the same ownership.
Moving on a few years, by the start 2022 the top 10 lessors accounted for 85% of the total leasing fleet. During the previous year, Peacock Container (in partnership with private equity investor Arcus Infrastructure) acquired about 9,000 tanks from Gem Containers, itself a relatively recent start-up.
That degree of concentration has stayed constant since then: 83% in 2023, 85% in 2024, and 84% at the start of 2025.
This year, two small European lessors announced they were tying the knot. Netherlands-based Meeberg ISO Tanks & Containers is taking over Belgian company MIMU Tank Leasing. The exact number of tanks involved is not publicly available. Meeberg claims to manage just over 1,000 units, while MIMU is likely to have fewer. However, as takeovers go the impact on sector concentration is not that great.
While the deal is relatively modest in size, it highlights how even smaller lessors are investing in technology to scale operations and remain competitive in a market increasingly shaped by digitalisation and data intelligence.
One of the key reasons we adopted an advanced fleet and lease management solution was the potential to unlock powerful BI dashboards, explained Michel van der Sman. The ability to slice and dice data across the business will be game-changing. Our previous system was excellent for daily depot operations, but it wasn’t built for managing lease contracts or planning ahead.
-Chief Operating Officer at Meeberg
More significant is the recent sale by Chinese company Bohai Leasing of its container leasing subsidiary Seaco to Textainer. Seaco has been one of the top three lessors for many years, but the impact of the merger will be felt more in the dry container sector. Textainer has always been a specialist in dry boxes and refrigerated containers, never really owning a big tank fleet.
For tank container leasing companies, future success is likely to hinge on not just fleet size, but also on their ability to leverage data, automate operational decisions, and support customers navigating more complex global supply chains.
How far industry consolidation can go is impossible to predict. At some point regulators in certain jurisdictions might come to view the dominance of certain players as detrimental to market competition.
Currently, the tank leasing industry seems to be some way from that, although it is fair to point out that tensions between operators and lessors sometimes arise with operators alleging that lease rates are too high and/or lessors are demanding longer minimum lease periods.
However, the logic of consolidation is compelling; shippers and logistics firms increasingly expect end-to-end visibility, digital booking, and a much faster service. Achieving this powerful combination at scale requires robust platforms, integrated software, and standardised processes – something which smaller lessors often struggle to offer.
Meeberg’s story is a perfect example of why flexible, intelligent solutions are essential. As leasing businesses grow, they need for technology that keeps pace with both operational demands and shifting market developments.
-Richard Shaw, Managing Director for Intermodal at MRI Software.
For the time being, concentration looks to have stabilised, but it is difficult to predict with certainty how the industry will evolve.
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