Shipping: "Rates Under Pressure on Low Demand--Maersk"

A nasty factoid from FT Alphaville:

...the Baltic Dry Index ... It’s now fallen 20 days in a row.
...MORE

reminded me of this story from The Maritime Executive:

BY MarEx 2014-12-17 09:12:30

Container shipping firm Maersk Line said a fresh attempt made on Monday to raise freight rates on main routes from ports in Asia to those in northern Europe was already under pressure due to weak demand.

Maersk Line, a unit of Danish conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk, controls one-fifth of all transported containers from Asia to Europe. Like other shipping lines it has been trying to curb losses on the world's busiest route where an overabundance of ships is weighing on rates.

The company hiked rates on twenty foot equivalent unit containers (TEU) by $900 on Nov. 1.

However, this level was quickly dragged down by low demand, partly due to seasonally weaker demand in end-November towards the Christmas holidays, the company's head of east and central China told Reuters on Wednesday....MORE