News / Storm clouds are gathering over box line business in 2018, says Fitch

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Credit rating and research firm Fitch Ratings has warned that repeating container shipping’s 2017 profitability this year “may prove challenging”.

It said: “The fact that some companies are likely to have remained loss-making in 2017 highlights the ongoing weakness in sector fundamentals due to persistent overcapacity, which may undermine a longer-lasting recovery.”

According to estimates by Drewry, ocean carriers made a profit of some $7bn in 2017, reversing the loss of a similar number the previous year. Market leader Maersk Line posted a full-year net profit ...