TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit)
A standard unit for counting container capacity, where one 20-foot container equals one TEU and a 40-foot container equals two.
TL;DR: A TEU is the capacity of one 20-foot container. It is used to measure ship size, port volume and freight bookings.
One 20GP container equals 1 TEU. A 40GP or 40HQ container equals 2 TEU, which is also called one FEU (Forty-foot Equivalent Unit). So a shipment of two 20-foot containers and one 40-foot container adds up to 4 TEU, or 2 FEU.
You will see TEU in industry news, such as port throughput figures or the size of a vessel, for example a ship rated at many thousands of TEU. Ports in South China, including Shenzhen, Guangzhou Nansha and Hong Kong, are among the busiest in the world when measured this way.
For buyers, TEU is mostly useful when comparing quotes or planning volume over a year. Some forwarders and carriers quote contract rates or discuss allocations in TEU or FEU. Keep in mind that TEU describes space, not weight. A heavy product such as glass mosaic may fill a container’s weight limit long before it uses the full space of 1 TEU.
When booking a real shipment, you still specify the actual container type, such as 20GP, 40GP or 40HQ, because the rates and payload limits differ. See Container Types (20GP, 40GP, 40HQ) and FCL.