Meet BIMCO's Chief Shipping Analyst at JOC Container Trade Europe in Hamburg, Germany
19 August 2019Join Peter Sand at the JOC Container Trade Europe conference in Hamburg, Germany on the 17 th of September.
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Join Peter Sand at the JOC Container Trade Europe conference in Hamburg, Germany on the 17 th of September.
The whole supply chain for charcoal cargoes leading up to sea transportation is about to change with the onset of amendments agreed at the IMO. This will bring about major changes to how charcoal must be safely packed for sea transport, as well as ensuring safer transportation through improved packaging and stowage provisions and requiring mandatory dangerous goods transport documentation.
In the full year of 2020, global container shipping volumes fell by 1.2% compared with 2019, much less than feared even before the pandemic was first declared, and much recovered compared with the 6.8% drop recorded in the first six months of the year.
Cocaine, illegal timber, arms, cash, chemical weapons…and sea horses. Rarely are the crew, shipowner, operator or importer aware that their ships and containers are abused and used for illegal transport, and rarely is the crew on board involved.
As freight rates are coming back from the abyss, their actual rise seems to be magnified beyond their actual performance. Some container spot freight rates are up more than 100% from the very low levels of last year, but may still be at a loss-making level now and so spot rates are not the best indicator for market profitability.
The demand for container shipping is stalling at the moment. Indicators for growth in the first months of 2016 point to limited overall demand and huge variations from trade to trade.
Despite lower volumes being fixed in the spot market, it is key to tracking developments in the container shipping market, as it quickly responds to the changing situation and adjustments to demand and supply.
Throughout April, container shipping spot freight rates on the back-haul trade from North Europe to China were higher than those on the front-haul trade from China to North Europe.
The last two years have been extreme for the container shipping industry. When the crisis started in 2008, the industry first saw volumes contract sharply and subsequently rates dropped like a stone as liner companies were fiercely fighting for market shares at full speed – so to speak.
So far this year, container volumes have fallen nearly 2% year-on-year while average freight rates have declined, reaching 2019 levels in September. Since then, they have continued to fall. However, the cost to charter a ship remains 25% higher than in 2019.