The shipping industry is shrinking fast after its boom in the pandemic period as the ongoing global economic recession is leading to demand contraction in a wide variety of industries, according to BusinessKorea.
This week’s Shanghai Containerized Freight Index is 2,312.65, down 9.7 percent from the previous week. For reference, the index amounted to 5,109.6 in the first week of January this year. This week’s Baltic Dry Index is 1,553. Although it rose from the previous week’s 1,213, it is much lower than this year’s high of 3,369 recorded in May.
The shrinkage of the industry is likely to continue for a while along with global inflation and rising interest rates. Companies in the industry have increased their ships, but the global freight volume is falling fast in spite of the fact that the third quarter is regarded as a high season in the industry.