Is Container Shipping World Shrinking?
Drewry says that the container shipping world is shrinking as M&A and carrier failures increase. Is reduced competition the real cost of low rates? The container shipping world is getting smaller. Hanjin Shipping may continue as a regional Intra-Asia carrier if its survival plan is successful but its days of being a leading global player in the Top 20 are over. Other brands that have effectively disappeared from the upper echelons of carrier rankings this summer include China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) after its merger with Cosco, while APL and UASC are now merely sub-brands within larger companies after deals with CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd respectively.
Journal of Commerce Poll on Economic Recovery
A majority of the attendees at the ninth annual Journal of Commerce Trans-Pacific Maritime conference do not expect a recovery from the global economic downturn and a return in growth of trans-Pacific trade before 2011, according to live poll questions asked during the conference. The response to audience questions at the recent conference in Los Angeles highlighted strong pessimism about prospects for recovery in coming months. Moreover, attendees said that because of tighter credit and the long-term impact on consumer spending they do not expect trans-Pacific containerized trade to return to growth rates between 2002 and 2006, when retail sales led to enormous growth in U.S. imports. Only 4 percent of attendees expect the U.S.
