Drewry: Carriers repeating past mistakes by failing to manage capacity

Shipping lines’ deep-seated instinct to preserve volumes has kicked in, leaving them without control of the market according to the latest report from Drewry.

In its Container Forecaster report the analyst noted that its expectation that carriers would reduce capacity before the market got completely out of hand has failed to materialise.

It stated: “Belatedly, it is now clear to us that carriers have lost control of the container market, have failed to pro-actively manage capacity, and will act on capacity only when they are forced to do so by heavy losses.”