Record Drop in Ocean Container Volumes Within Last 30 Years

Overview:

• Container volumes contract at sharpest levels in 30 years

• Carriers manage vessel capacity accordingly to hold rates firm

Sam Chambers, writing for Splash 247, reports on new data from London based research firm, Clarksons who expect 2020 to see the sharpest contraction in global ocean container trade on record. The research considers both the recent volume contraction as reported by several of the major ocean carrier’s as well as the projected recovery through the remainder of this year.

While container volumes plummet, Lars Jenson from SeaIntelligence Consulting tells Splash that “unlike in the financial crisis, freight rates are holding firm [and that] the outlook for 2020 cannot at this moment to said to be as bad as what we saw a decade ago [Financial Crisis] from a profitability perspective.”

Through a series of blank sailings readjusting sailing schedules ocean carriers have successfully been able to hold the line on container rates. The Global Container Freight Index managed by Freightos bears this out. The COVID-19 related post Chinese New Year rate dip from mid-January to the beginning of March has recovered, with global container rates now just about where they were at the start of the year