Over the past 25 years, the capacity operated by carriers in the container shipping industry has grown immensely. In 2000, the 50 largest carriers moved a combined 2.5m TEU. Now, only 24 of the original companies remain. These carriers now operate 26.7m TEU, increasing their collective capacity by 983%. This equates to an average annual growth rate of 10% over the past 25 years.

According to Sea-Intelligence, aside from the 24 surviving carriers, 26 new companies have entered the top 50 rankings. However, these carriers only account for 6% of the global fleet, compared to the 84% held by the established carriers. “Clearly, this is a market which has undergone extreme consolidation. But it has also been a 25-year journey, where the incumbents have clearly been better at adapting and growing in the market than the newcomers,” Sea-Intelligence noted. 

Historically, it took the industry 50 years to reach the 5m TEU milestone in 2001. In contrast, it has taken just seven years to expand from 20m TEU to 30m TEU. This week, the global fleet is expected to surpass 32m TEU, driven by record newbuild deliveries from Asian shipyards, according to data from Alphaliner.

Source: splash247.com