According to an independent maritime research and consulting firm, Drewry, refrigerated container shipping is forecasted to outpace dry good container shipping by the end of 2021. They attribute this to the strength of the global food supply chain as well as the continued trade, both import and export of key food ingredients. Their report goes on to predict that reefer shipping will withstand current economic pressures, despite an expected tightening of the availability of refrigerated container equipment and will eventually reach over 150 million tons by the year 2024. This is an annual growth rate of close to 4 percent, faster than the expected growth in the dry cargo trade.