Shipping: "Global container shipments set to fall 30% in next few months" (warehouses are full)

From Bloomberg via The Straits Times, April 23:

Warehouses are getting so full of goods like fridges and washing machines that retailers are asking shipping companies to push back deliveries, which may drag global container shipments down as much as 30 per cent in the next few months, according to the head of an industry group.

Shipments have probably fallen about 15 per cent so far this year amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to International Chamber of Shipping chairman Esben Poulsson. Second-quarter declines, compared with a year ago, will depend on by how much governments reopen economies, he said.

"Inventories of goods like apparel, textiles, white goods, are full," Poulsson said by phone last week. "We are hearing of receivers of these goods asking shipping lines whether they can store these goods for a period of time or slow their ships down or basically delay taking delivery."

The slump is a setback for shipping giants such as Cosco Shipping Holdings and Ocean Network Express Holdings, which started the year strong as healthy trade volumes allowed the industry to boost rates. That optimism has now evaporated as the virus outbreak has forced shoppers to stay home, crimping retail sales in the biggest consumer markets....MUCH MORE