Announcements such as China Shipping Container Lines earlier this week, where it revealed intentions to order five, 18,000 teu ships, create an industry focus on overcapacity and the question of how the market will absorb the extra tonnage, Drewry said in its monthly shipping report.
"Ocean carriers did a decent job over the winter months balancing supply to ensure that freight rates remained relatively firm, but the delivery of big new ships – leading to new services and upgrades of existing loops – will mean lines will find that task increasingly difficult for the remainder of 2013," said Simon Heaney, research manager at Drewry.
"These new orders and speculation of more to come could be having a negative impact on rates right now. Carriers cannot shift the paradigm from the supply pressure they are facing so that they can get rates moving upwards again," added Heaney.
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