Ocean container volumes are about to fall off a cliff

Nevertheless, rates will fall. The consultancy estimates that May spot rates in the Asia-Europe trade will decline 36% versus February and trans-Pacific rates will fall 17%.

Carrier financial stability

For cargo shippers, lower spot rates help margins, but there is such a thing as rates that are too low. When ocean carriers cannot earn enough to service their debt and do not have a government sponsor to rescue them, the consequence is extremely disruptive to shippers, as was seen in the 2016 insolvency of South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping.