GSF/MDST Container Shipping Market Quarterly Review
MDS Transmodal overview
In association with Global Shippers Forum, MDS Transmodal has decided to produce a new quarterly review of the trends and performance of the global container shipping market for four main reasons:
1. We have over the last 35 years been developing a wide range of databases that describe global liner shipping; on the fleet and its deployment, on demand, performance, costs and revenues. Over the last 15 years we have brought these together using standard coding systems so that the industry could be readily described and modelled, largely to support our consultancy work. We felt it was time to now share these resources with a wider market so that decision making can be based on sound evidence.
2. Over the last 15 years, since the decision that was made by the EU to effectively bring an end to the conference system, the liner shipping sector, its suppliers and clients have been in flux as the size of ships, performance and levels of integration and consolidation have changed radically while its market has grown remorselessly. The need for sound regulation and informed investment has never been greater and is attracting the concern of global authorities such as OECD, UNCTAD and trade associations such as GSF, CLECAT and FEPORT.
3. The urgency for the liner shipping sector, its suppliers and clients to address the issue of climate change. The process whereby sustainable solutions are agreed upon and invested in will be complex and require a collaborative approach if global connectivity and prosperity are to be maintained.
4. Global Shippers Forum represents an ideal partner for our initiative because of its reach and membership. However, GSF will have its own perspectives and arguments which MDST will remain independent of. MDST’s commentary will be limited to noting statistical change (comments in blue) while GSF will focus on the implications for its members (comments in brown).
In each edition a different trade lane will be examined in turn.
