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ARTICLE · 09 MARCH 2023

2023 Container Shipping Outlook: This Time Is Different

AlixPartners Asia LLC
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The period from mid-2020 to the fourth quarter of 2022 was a high-water mark for the container shipping industry, and with it came unprecedented turmoil, disruption, and prosperity.

United StatesTransport
Esben Christensen
Esben Christensen
Stelios Fragkos
Stelios Fragkos
Marc Iampieri
Marc Iampieri
Lian Hoon Lim
Lian Hoon Lim
Erik Mattson
Erik Mattson
Luiz Gosling
Luiz Gosling
Andrew Kerr
Andrew Kerr
Jesse Bermensolo
Jesse Bermensolo
James Roe
James Roe
Author LinkedIn connections

The period from mid-2020 to the fourth quarter of 2022 was a high-water mark for the container shipping industry, and with it came unprecedented turmoil, disruption, and prosperity. That period was, above all, a period of extremes: extreme rate rises, extreme container and labor shortages, extreme delays, extreme congestion, and extreme chaos for exporters and importers alike.

For container ship operators themselves, it was an era of extreme revenues and extreme earnings. Thanks to those earnings, the container shipping industry, long known for its cyclical swings and volatile and precarious returns, is enjoying unaccustomed financial stability and with it, the luxury of choosing among a broad range of strategic options.

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