A series of EU and Asian container ship operators are budgeting for losses for the first half of 2020. This is due to the fact that port congestion, disruption of transport infrastructure and low factory output have all combined to reduce demand for shipping.
CEE Intelligence, based in Denmark, providing shipping statistics, estimates that 350,000 containers have been removed from global trade since the outbreak of COVID-19 in China.
Crude and natural gas shipments are down by nearly half across China’s main ports of Shanghai, Tianjian, and Ningbo. It is estimated that daily freight rates for crude tankers have dropped by half since the beginning of 2020.
