The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

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Maersk Line says the worst is over for the global container shipping industry.
https://www.morningstar.com/news/dow-jones/retail/TDJNDN_201705126794/todays-top-supply-chain-and-logistics-news-from-wsj.html

The unit of Danish shipping-and-oil giant A.P. Moller-Maersk says the container market is starting to emerge from one of the worst industry downturns, the WSJ’s Costas Paris and Dominic Chopping report, with demand outgrowing capacity for the second consecutive quarter. The recovery isn’t coming fast enough to boost the bottom line at the world’s biggest container carrier, which lost $80 million in the first quarter because of higher bunker fuel costs. But Maersk says average freight rates were up 4.4% in the first quarter, bolstering reports from industry groups and other carriers that show operators are seeing more equilibrium in the shipping market. Overseas Orient Container Lines recently said its revenues and “liftings” were just about in sync in the first three months of the year. With shipping capacity largely stable, the carriers just need a modest boost in demand to give a lift to their earnings.