Containers: how long will the boom last?
Copenhagen-headquartered maritime consultancy Sea-Intelligence has put forward its forecast on how long the current boom in container demand in North America may last. Essential is the gap of spending in services and goods.
CEO Alan Murphy: "Historically, the rate of growth in spending in services has consistently exceeded that of goods. This changed starting in the spring of 2020 following the initial impact of the pandemic, where the deviation from the 60-year trend line was very quick, followed by a brief period of stagnation, and an even higher peak touching nearly 8%."
Currently, the sale of goods would need to see a downwards correction of some 20% compared to the present level. Some correction happened until August 2021, where the “gap” was reduced to 12%. Sea-Intelligence's assumption is that "the reversal might therefore not appear as a sudden shock to the container flows, but potentially as a more gradual correction taking place over a couple of years." (sh)