Transportation & Logistics Analysis

Seaborne container transport in 2020

December 17 2020

New balance of power between shippers and carriers, unprecedented freight rates levels, destabilised supply chains: you can read here our analysis of the main trends which have marked seaborne container transport in 2020.

2020 will remain in the annals as an exceptional year which has been full of surprises. From an economic point of view, the Covid-19 pandemic, which affected the entire planet, overturned the forecasts and the organisation of trade. Contrary to all expectations, however, when shipping companies' already fragile finances could have plunged to new lows, we have seen the opposite happen. The balance of power between shippers and shipping companies has been reversed. Freight levels have reached unprecedented levels and supply chains have been disrupted.

How can we explain these trends? How do other container shipping stakeholders react? Will this situation continue? Jérôme de Ricqlès, Upply maritime expert, gives us his analysis in a special report to download.

Contents:

  1. Balance of power reversed
  2. The efficiency of the "carrier discipline" concept
  3. Fundamentals destabilised by the Covid-19 pandemic
  4. Unprecedented rates levels but a "correction" in view
  5. Some states show their teeth…
  6. The risk of a countercoup in 2021

Please fill out the form to download the document.

 

 

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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).
See all its articles