In 2017:
Sanity Is Returning to Shipping as Freight Rates Gain
The bankruptcy of South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping Co. and a consolidation in container shipping industry will pave the way for a better 2017 for the industry, according to Robbert van Trooijen, the Asia-Pacific chief of Maersk Line.
After years of overcapacity and excessive optimism about demand, the order backlog for vessels is falling and Maersk Line is seeing a more balanced supply-demand situation for 2017 in its talks with customers, MANA correspondent reported.
Maersk Line, which expects to be profitable in 2017 after a $384 million loss it booked last year, expects the global container market to grow 2-4 percent amid the consolidation wave.
Following Hanjin’s collapse, Japan’s three biggest shipping companies decided to merge their container operations, while Copenhagen-based Maersk agreed in December to buy Hamburg Sud. Freight rates are rebounding, van Trooijen said.