News / Shipping line fortunes may be looking up after a dire fourth quarter

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The last three months of 2023 were some of the worst for liner shipping’s finances in recent years, with the cumulative loss among carriers amounting to $700m, according to new analysis from John McCown.

It was the industry’s first quarterly loss since the onset of the pandemic in 2020 – and even though freight rates declined significantly over the course of last year, the third quarter still saw carriers post a cumulative profit of $4.2bn.

This again demonstrates the wild swings in ...