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Shipping issues still remain, says analyst

[ October 5, 2022   //   ]

The industry is still struggling with challenges of the present, despite a recent fall in ocean rates Alphaliner, analyst Jan Tiedemann told a conference organised by German purchasing platform XStaff on 5 October.

He said that despite currently falling freight rates and a temporary calming of the market in light of the uncertain economic outlook, he sees the industry as far from being in safe waters. “Despite the downward movement, freight rates are still at a very high level and many problems in the supply chains themselves remain unresolved, despite the increasing number of container ships in service.”

XStaff in the past has charted its own containerships to move goods on behalf of its members and beat widespread disruption to liner shipping, at the height of the Covid pandemic.

He sees very strong consolidation in container shipping with the top 10 operators now having around 85% market share. “The major shipping companies have made good profits in the last two years, which they are either using to build their own infrastructures or are allocating to meet the challenges of the future.”

Tiedemann adds: “There is a lot coming up for shipping companies here in the next few years, although today no one really knows how the topics of decarbonization and energy intensity will change the market. That’s also the reason why many players are currently taking a ‘wait and see’ approach.”