Why supply and demand no longer tell the whole story in container shipping

AI Summary

The article argues that container shipping conditions cannot be explained by supply and demand alone, even though vessel capacity and cargo demand remain fundamental to freight rates. Other factors are increasingly shaping market outcomes, though the provided excerpt does not specify them.

For much of container shipping’s history, market conditions could be understood through a relatively straightforward equation. When cargo demand grew faster than available vessel capacity, utilisation and freight rates generally rose. When capacity expanded more quickly than demand, rates typically came under pressure. That fundamental relationship has not changed. Supply and demand remain at the ...