BIMCO forecasts improvement in below-par box shipping rates in 2016
AN additional 850,000 TEU of new container shipping capacity is due to be pumped into the global fleet this year, about half that of last year's 1.6 million TEU of extra capacity, in a market already awash with surplus capacity and sinking rates.
Despite this, chief shipping analyst at Bimco Peter Sand is forecasting a slight improvement this year in global box shipping freight rates.
"Overall we will see a more balanced development in the container shipping market this year, so freight rates should be slightly firmer compared to last year," Mr Sand told Seatrade Maritime News.
Thanks to demand and supply potentially growing at approximately the same pace, according to Bimco.
Mr Sands says the US and European markets have been growing and Japan's economy is "improving," although economic indicators point to the country slumping back into recession, giving rise to the hope, he says, that demand will be strong enough to fend off the inflow of new vessel tonnage, reported American Shipper.
Bimco forecasts that imports in the US and consumption in Europe will lend support to the container shipping market.
The decline in value of the Chinese yuan against the US dollar may also inspire some enterprises to go back to Chinese suppliers for goods, however, Beijing is pulling out the stops to stop further currency depreciation and exports from both industrialised nations and China have been stagnating.
BIMCO expects the segment for smaller ship sizes of between 3,000 TEU and 5,000 TEU to see a modest increase in time-charter rates due mainly to the segment's more active demolition activities.
For Mr Sands the outlook for container shipping is not all doom and gloom, albeit the market is delicate and facing a "new normal" of declining outsourcing activity, impacting seaborne trade.
AN additional 850,000 TEU of new container shipping capacity is due to be pumped into the global fleet this year, about half that of last year's 1.6 million TEU of extra capacity, in a market already awash with surplus capacity and sinking rates.
Despite this, chief shipping analyst at Bimco Peter Sand is forecasting a slight improvement this year in global box shipping freight rates.
"Overall we will see a more balanced development in the container shipping market this year, so freight rates should be slightly firmer compared to last year," Mr Sand told Seatrade Maritime News.
Thanks to demand and supply potentially growing at approximately the same pace, according to Bimco.
Mr Sands says the US and European markets have been growing and Japan's economy is "improving," although economic indicators point to the country slumping back into recession, giving rise to the hope, he says, that demand will be strong enough to fend off the inflow of new vessel tonnage, reported American Shipper.
Bimco forecasts that imports in the US and consumption in Europe will lend support to the container shipping market.
The decline in value of the Chinese yuan against the US dollar may also inspire some enterprises to go back to Chinese suppliers for goods, however, Beijing is pulling out the stops to stop further currency depreciation and exports from both industrialised nations and China have been stagnating.
BIMCO expects the segment for smaller ship sizes of between 3,000 TEU and 5,000 TEU to see a modest increase in time-charter rates due mainly to the segment's more active demolition activities.
For Mr Sands the outlook for container shipping is not all doom and gloom, albeit the market is delicate and facing a "new normal" of declining outsourcing activity, impacting seaborne trade.