Is reefer cargo going to take the lead?
The London-based maritime consultancy considers that seaborne perishable cargo will weather the Covid-19 induced economic storm better than the dry cargo trade. Worldwide seaborne reefer trade recorded growth of just 1.7% in 2019 to 130.5 million t, its weakest rate of growth since 2015, where the disappointing performance was due to bad weather and African swine fever.
Now, Drewry forecasts that seaborne reefer traffic will reach 156 million t by 2024, representing average annual expansion of 3.7%, which is faster than the anticipated growth in the wider dry cargo trade.
Meanwhile, availability of refrigerated container equipment is forecast to tighten as buoyant trade and continued modal shift boost expansion in reefer cargo carried by containerships, according to Drewry’s latest Reefer Shipping Annual Review and Forecast 2020/21 report. (mw)