Written by Jérôme de Ricqlès

Exclusive analysis on freight transport, supply chain and international trade topics

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    Jérôme de Ricqlès

    Expert in Ocean shipping for 25 years, Jerome puts all his knowledge of the industry to contribution for Upply. Ship captain at heart, he has written the English-French Lexicon of Containerized Shipping (Paris: CELSE, 2001).

    Will the shipping companies make a profit in 2023?

    Regular line shipping companies will see their financial performances decline markedly in 2023 following the about-turn in the container shipping market. Some are better protected than others, however. The factors which enabled regular line shipping companies to rake in colossal profits in 2021 and ...
    Jérôme de Ricqlès
    March 20 2023
    9 min
    Subscribers

    Market tests low points in ex-China container trades

    BAROMETER. Spot rates for goods leaving China are now lower than contract rates but, on other routes, prices have stayed at acceptable levels. "All that for that!" is what one is tempted to say as we leave a month of February which was disappointing for shipping companies and forwarders. Spot rates ...
    Jérôme de Ricqlès
    March 07 2023
    3 min

    United States opts for tighter controls over shipping

    In 2022, the United States adopted a law giving the Federal Maritime Commission greater powers in the shipping sector. The commission is going to need more manpower, however, if it wants to make use of its new powers. "This act revises requirements governing ocean shipping to increase the authority ...
    Jérôme de Ricqlès
    February 28 2023
    8 min
    Subscribers

    Ocean freight rates stop falling in January

    BAROMETER. Ocean freight rates seem finally to be stabilising after plunging steadily over the last six months, but only thanks to wide-ranging cancellations of port calls. The first half of 2023 looks likely to be complicated for the shipping companies, as their weekly financial results collapse un...
    Jérôme de Ricqlès
    February 07 2023
    1 min

    Container shipping companies start to personalise their liner terms

    Container shipping companies' conditions of sale are becoming increasingly personalised, a process favoured by digitalisation. In August 2020, Upply took you into container shipping's backroom in an article explaining shipping companies' general conditions of sale. Since then, the container sector h...
    Jérôme de Ricqlès
    January 31 2023
    7 min
    Subscribers

    Container shipping market prepares for the next storm

    BAROMETER. Upply's data for the month of December confirms that the median rates charged by the container shipping industry have dropped sharply. With demand for goods from China still very weak, the shipping companies have cancelled a large number of port calls. Blank sailings are expected to be wi...
    Jérôme de Ricqlès
    January 10 2023
    2 min

    Our three scenarios for container shipping in 2023

    The year 2023 will mark the end of windfall profits for shipping companies, in a context of profound transformation of freight flows. “For whosoever commands the sea commands the trade; whosoever commands the trade of the world commands the riches of the world, and consequently the world itself”." T...
    Jérôme de Ricqlès
    January 03 2023
    2 min
    Subscribers

    Container shipping's bitter-tasting return to ''normality''

    BAROMETER. Ocean freight rates are continuing to fall, and the quality of shipping services is still lacking, even if port congestion is easing. The fast fall in freight rates for goods exported from China continued in November. Rates in other trades were less affected but the general trend was neve...
    Jérôme de Ricqlès
    December 09 2022
    3 min

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