Carriers - craving less volatility - look to move into logistics

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As major container shipping lines begin the descent into a new freight rate war, particularly on the volatile Asia-Europe trade, some are beginning to rethink their corporate exposure to the liner trades.

Japan’s largest maritime transport company, in terms of market capitalisation, last week released its annual report which featured an interesting segment about the carrier’s strategy of reducing its reliance on liner shipper and increasing its focus on freight forwarding and providing other logistics services directly to shippers.

“We are leveraging ...