Container Shipping (Global Market)

Container transportation in Russia

Main article Container transportation in Russia

2023: Freight price collapse of 45% for the year and the expectation of an industry crisis

Freight tariffs

The next few years are likely to be challenging for container companies, Rolf Hubben Jansen, head of Hapag-Lloyd, the world's No. 5 container carrier, said on Nov. 9, 2023.

2022: MSC and Maersk suspend work in Russia amid special operation of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine

On March 1, 2022, it became known that against the background of a special operation Russia , it To Ukraine Maersk temporarily stops accepting new orders for transportation by sea and land Russia to and from Russia.

Just less than half of the world's container ships have suspended work with Russia, which could lead to trade shocks for everything from food and metals to clothing and electronic goods.

In addition to A.P Moller-Maersk A/S, they also said that they were ceasing trade in the region of MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co., Hapag-Lloyd AG and Asian Ocean Network Express Pte.

Maersk handles some cargoes for aluminum giant United Co. Rusal International PJSC, and the suspension poses a risk to its export. Some shippers have already refused to carry Russian goods such as nickel, but the impact on volumes has so far been negligible.

Maersk, MSC, Hapag-Lloyd and One Network account for about 47% of global container capacity, according to Alphaliner. Russian exports and imports of container cargo account for about 3% of the world's volume.

2021: Mediterranean Shipping Company beats Maersk in container water market

At the end of 2021, the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) removed Maersk from the position of the world's largest shipping line in terms of container capacity, according to data from the analytical company Alphaliner, released in early January 2022. The Mediterranean Shipping Company surpassed one key metric: the number of containers it can transport on ships it owns and chartered. Read more here.

2020: Container Shipping Market Leaders

In 2020, 23.5 million twenty-foot units of cargo (TEU) were loaded and unloaded at ports around the world, which is 3.1% more than a year earlier. Such data are provided by NYK Line, which specializes in international logistics, shipping, cruise business and terminal operations.

Approximately 65.5% of the market under consideration at the end of 2020 fell on the five largest operators of sea container carriers. In first place is Maersk with a share of 17%, which is 0.7 percentage points less compared to 2019. The following Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) recorded 16.1% in the asset, and this figure did not change for the year.

Global Container Shipping Volumes

The top 3 also included the Chinese COSCO Shipping Group, which accounted for 12.6% of the market. Fourth place behind the French company CMA CGM (12.5%), fifth - behind the German Hapag-Lloyd (7.3%).

2020 was one of the best in the history of container lines. According to Blue Alpha Capital, the net profit of the largest linear operators, including those companies that do not disclose statements, at the end of 2020 amounted to $15.8 billion, which is twice as much as the total profit of the sector for the five previous years (about $7 billion).

According to experts, in the second half of 2020, the container shipping market began to grow rapidly after several years of stagnation. The reasons are the shortage of containers in China, which arose against the background of post-pandemic economic recovery due to a slowdown in their return from the United States and Europe. As a result, freight rates have increased multiples, soaring to a 13-year high.

Container traffic in Russia has been growing for the fifth year in a row. 2020 was no exception and for the first time showed positive dynamics with a slowdown in macro parameters (Fesco data).^[1]

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