- Average margins are nearly a quarter of what they were 12 months ago
- The price shippers can charge depressed after a post-pandemic boost in capacity
Softer demand and a big increase in capacity mean that 2024 is “shaping up to be a car crash” for the container shipping industry, commentators have warned. Consultancy Drewry has forecast a 93 per cent decline in operating profit for the industry this year, falling to $20bn (£16.3bn) compared with $296bn last year.
Next year will be even worse, as growth in capacity could push rates so low that shippers record a collective loss of around $15bn, Drewry’s head of research Simon Heaney said. Carriers’ average margin fell to 14.4 per cent in the second quarter of this year, compared with 55 per cent a year ago, he added.