News / Carriers need to shave more costs from box shipping as rates continue to fall

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Container shipping lines will have to shave another 2% off their costs “just to stand still”, as freight rates are predicted to continue declining through to 2019, delegates at last week’s TOC Container Supply Chain event in Rotterdam heard.

Jesper Praestengaard, chairman of feeder and shortsea operator Unifeeder, and a senior advisor at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), said BCG was currently forecasting a 1.6-2.6% per year decline over the next four years – the organisation’s research showed that rates had declined ...