Lars Jensen, ceo of SeaIntelligence Consulting, has warned the accelerating losses seen in the container sector in the second quarter could lead to as much as $10bn in cumulative full year losses for the world’s containerlines.
Jensen noted that with 13 of the top 20 containerlines having issued their interim results, net losses stood at $2.5bn, a figure he anticipated would stand at $4bn once all containerlines have reported their figures for the first six months.
“Results have markedly worsened from Q1 to Q2 2016, hence if the market conditions do not change materially, the industry might be facing combined losses of as much as $8bn to $20bn for full year 2016,” Jensen warned in a note today.
Jensen’s predictions are far more alarming than a Drewry report out earlier this month. Drewry predicts container lines will lose $5bn this year. Carriers are on course to post full year combined revenues some $29bn less than in 2015 – marking a worse performance than the previous nadir, 2009, Drewry warned in its most recent container forecasts.
