According to a report on Bloomberg, the container-shipping industry is dealing with the longest stretch of near-zero rates in its half-century history on the Asia-to-Europe route, a double whammy of stagnate global economy and a capacity glut.
Commerce on the world’s second-busiest container route rose 4.2% in the second quarter, according to the Bloomberg report, the weakest since the end of 2009, Woking, England-based Container Trade Statistics Ltd. estimates.
Container trade on the Asia-Europe route will expand by an average of 4 to 6% this year, compared with 15 percent growth in fleet capacity, according to Morgan Stanley, cited by Bloomberg.
The Asia-to-Europe container route is exceeded only by trade from Asia to the U.S. West Coast and accounts for about 9 percent of annual global shipments of 139.9 million 20-foot equivalent units, the benchmark container size, according to Clarkson Plc.