Container shipping rides high on trade rebound, but caution is advised

Container shipping has been enjoying a gold run, hampered only by recent freight rates falls, as a result of overcapacity. Still, a recent report from BIMCO suggests that while the slide in rates should continue of oversupply of capacity isn’t reduced (and so far some liners appear to be hesitant to take capacity out of service), the report predicts that demand will remain firm during 2011 (in the higher single-digit area), although not a very strong rebound should be expected. “Private consumption in the main consumer societies of Europe and the US continues to struggle. For the recovery to become sustainable, private consumption has to take over from the large public stimulus packages that have driven demand forward – and we are still waiting for that to happen in a number of key countries. This is why the IMF just recently revised the growth forecast for the US downwards, while the growth forecast for EU, despite being upwardly adjusted, still remains quite depressed” said BIMCO’s analyst Peter Sand.
[Read More]
Source: Hellenic Shipping News