Globalisation: not always a saving grace
It seems the sector is, to an extent, the victim of its own success, says Peter Sands of BIMCO in the organisation’s recent Shipping Markets Overview.
“Globally-integrated international supply chains have developed to provide efficiencies of scale, but have also increased the interdependencies between economies in good times and bad,” says Mr Sands, and it this aspect that is “hurting container shipping big time right now”.
It looks as if the developments, as far as ports are concerned, are complex. He goes on to point out, “The extraordinarily challenging conditions in the container shipping market are now clear and present to all. The overcapacity on the main trading lanes has prompted cascading to a larger extent than a normal market development would do, adding pressure on secondary routes.”
While this in the first instance affects the shipping rates, it also has longer term implications for the ports themselves, as it means an increasing strain on their handling abilities.
Mr Sands also adds that although the global container traffic is forecast by Drewry to increase by 8.1% during 2011, that figure may cover up some large differences between the trading lanes and finally prove to be too bullish.
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