海运费何时会下降？

Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd, the world’s fifth-largest shipping company, said that container freight rates have reached “corona levels” due to supply chain bottlenecks and high demand, and shipping companies’ capacity is currently at its limit, but this situation is only temporary.

In an update to customers and stock analysts on the container market, the shipping giant CEO urged his customers, i.e. shippers, not to ensure the arrival of their goods by booking more space on shipping companies’ ships than required, as this will only make the capacity shortage worse.

Speaking about the current abnormally high spot prices and capacity shortages, Jansen said: “I still think this is a temporary thing. We can discuss how many weeks this situation will last, but I don’t think it will last until the end of the year.”

In addition to advising shippers to stay calm, the CEO of Hapag-Lloyd also frankly acknowledged the fact that shipping companies are currently under pressure.

“Demand is much higher than supply at the moment. As a result, we are seeing prices rise. Almost all available ships are sailing and, on average, all ships are sailing faster than usual,” Jansen said, adding:

“To be fair, I think a lot has been done to provide as much capacity as possible.”