The goals of the year for the healing of the shipping industry

Daniel Bosch Wood

Maritim Lawyer

LLM Southampton

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Key route hopes to reach milestone of 10 million TEUs in one year

No doubt 2017 has been a year of revelations for the shipping industry, which have been generated within the very core of the business that has managed to reinvent itself after an intense self-imposed storm. According to the most recent edition of Drewry’s Container Insight Weekly report, arrived in December, the Asia-North Europe route could surpass for the first time in its history the brand of 10 million TEUs transported in a single year.

Among the reasons that would explain the rebound in commercial activity would be a peak season less pronounced but more widespread than in previous years, while the determining factor would be the increase in online commerce that maintained a steady and even demand throughout the year.

Spot rates remained slightly down compared to the last 12 months, but still recorded profitable levels over the historically unstable summer season. It is expected that next year the commercial exchange of the route will grow by 3%, mainly driven by growth trends in Russian trade

The keys to success

A combination of key factors was decisive when establishing the growth goal. First of all, a stable demand throughout the year eliminated the navigation of routes without containers, especially during the peak season, in contrast to the three previous years in which this type of travel was recorded in order to manage excess capacity. In addition, the introduction of the CMA CGM SEANE service during peak times helped to balance cargo traffic.

In the future, the Gala shipping company is expected to suspend extraordinary service to allow a natural balance of supply and demand of the route, together with a high level of organization in the face of the arrival of ULCVs on the 14,000 TEUs expected to enter the country. market during 2018 and possibly at the beginning of 2019.