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Container logistics platform Container xChange released its Container LogTech 2023 predictions report, which surveyed leaders’ hopes and fears for the coming year through a survey, polls, and interviews.

Inflation and recession topped the list of fears with 88% of respondents noting them as factors for 2023, followed by implications of war with 57%, impact of COVID in China at 53% and worker strikes at 23%. The latter is closely linked to inflation raging notably in the EU and the US, pressuring worker incomes and standards of living.

Overall, the report expects that 2023 will be a year of falling rates and rising industrial action. It highlights 23 trends for 2023, with among them new container vessel deliveries and equipment surplus, rising fines and storage fees, a container price war, capacity cuts, “friendshoring”, and staff shortages leading to changing work cultures post-pandemic.

Ruben Huber, Founder and Director of OceanX noted that “the two, almost three exceptional years for carriers are definitely coming to an end. Many customers, forced into high-cost contracts during the up-cycle, will come for revenge in the down cycle. And regulatory pressures, following excessive profits might appear on top of that, be it through bodies like FMC, EU or China’s MOC, as they each review alliance exemptions, new taxation regulations, or precedence cases from several complaints raised by shippers at different institutions.”

Source: Seatrade Maritime News