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Recent Articles from Rachel Shames
Commentary: Navigating risk
After the chaos of the pandemic years, 2023 brought a sense of normalcy and familiar market dynamics. By December, however, the industry was reminded of the fragility of global trade. Low water levels constrained transits at the Panama Canal, and the Suez Canal became virtually impassible by global container carriers due to terrorist attacks. As […]
Choppy waters for ocean shipping
What a difference a year makes. In March 2022, ocean freight rates were at record highs, with capacity straining under the weight of historic U.S. import demand. High inventories and economic uncertainty prompted importers to pull back over the summer months, and volumes slowed. A spectacular rate collapse in the ocean freight market from Asia […]
Commentary: Adjusting to a new shipping reality
Ocean shipping patterns established during the first year of the pandemic have taken root, and it’s time for shippers to adjust strategies for the long term. That was the takeaway from the first in-person Trans-Pacific Maritime (TPM) Conference in three years, presented in Long Beach, California, in March by IHS Markit Ltd. (now S&P Global […]
Guest opinion: A pandemic game-changer
Each year, we lament the relative instability of the international shipping industry, analyzing unpredicted challenges and looking for signs of smoother sailing in the months ahead. It goes without saying that 2020 set a new bar for instability across the board. As the COVID-19 pandemic spread and lockdowns were implemented in the United States, importers […]
