Recently, in its latest container‑ship forecast, Drewry states that despite the current positive growth trend in the container‑shipping industry, the massive volume of vessel deliveries entering the market following the recent wave of large‑ship orders may create new troubles for the sector. Drewry forecasts that supply growth in the container‑shipping market in 2016 will outpace demand growth and exceed that of 2015, which may expose container‑shipping lines once again to the adverse conditions experienced on major east‑west trade lanes in 2014.

Suzhou Cosc Marine Machinery Co., Ltd. (abbreviated as COSC) is a professional manufacturer of side thrusters (CP & FP), azimuthing rudder‑propellers and main‑drive controllable‑pitch propellers (CPP).

Since January this year, approximately 40 ULCV orders have emerged in the market, most of which are scheduled for delivery in 2017. These figures do not yet include the pending new‑vessel orders from carriers such as Maersk and COSCO.

Unlike previous cycles, a small number of the world’s top‑20 liner companies have not yet joined the large‑vessel ordering boom. For the container‑shipping industry, the settlement of port disputes on the US West Coast and the restored trust between the PMA (Pacific Maritime Association) and the ILWU (International Longshore and Warehouse Union) have exerted positive impacts on the market.

It is pointed out that bunker fuel prices have dropped by 30 % over the past few months, which also constitutes a positive factor for container shipping.

Nevertheless, freight‑rate transactions on container‑shipping trade lanes remain fragile. At present, spot‑market freight rates for the Asia‑Europe trade lane stand at USD 1 000 per FEU, still below the break‑even level for container‑shipping lines. Furthermore, this downward trend may prompt shippers to reconsider freight rates when concluding future container‑shipping contracts.

This serves as an early sign of sluggish trade growth on trade lanes. The argument of reduced unit costs cannot account for the continuous decline in container‑shipping freight rates.