With demand growth declining steadily over the past few years, Jakob Stausholm, Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer of Maersk Line is anticipating a larger slump in the near future of around 1-3%, which could the lowest recorded in the last 30 years, according to Shipping Watch.
Jakob Stausholm said: “The container industry, after experiencing solid growth for 30 years from two-digits to 4-5% in recent years, has now dropped to 1-3%. And the final result for the demand last year will probably be in the lower end of the scale.
“There is no sign that we will experience the same return to a solid market as we did after 2009. We are optimists, but also realists. And realistically, we must admit, that we have to prepare for lower growth rates. How low they will be in 2016, is hard to predict right now.”
The plummet in demand growth can be seen through the actions of most shipping lines, which have recently placed orders for bigger ships to tackle low freight rates and increase economies of scale.
Maersk recently announced that it will be acting to defend its market and will be cutting capacity along key routes, with many shipping lines anticipated to follow-suit.
