“It was a miserable year for shippers,” says Bjørn Vang Jensen, describing how shippers gained basically nothing from the historical upturn in the container market in 2020.
Too few vessels early in 2020 and a dramatic shortage of containers and chassis in a red-hot market, a situation created by a unique demand, led to canceled bookings and sky-high rates. Carriers are more than pleased with how 2020 unfolded, with shippers easily paying USD 5,000 per FEU from Asia to the US, if they were even lucky enough to secure a slot. Similar situations occurred in many other main markets.
