Availability of cargo space is number one customer requirement, according to the fourth annual shipper satisfaction survey of Drewry and ESC. Container shipping lines’ ability to provide cargo space as needed showed a marginal improvement in 2019, but this gain will have been dramatically reversed by the end of the first half of 2020.
“This is a market with volatile capacity where liners remain price setters and keep freight rates high, despite very low fuel indexes, whilst they can only plan in the short term themselves. Our view is that shippers will benefit from shorter-term contracts, and either by diversifying their carriers’ selection pool or by concentrating more on financially healthier or government supported carriers,” said Godfried Smit, Secretary General of the European Shippers’ Council.
Figure 1: the attached chart shows the responses to the following question:
Based on the service you received from carriers in 2018, please tell us how satisfied you are with the carriers on average for each of the service and cost criteria from 1 (very dissatisfied) to 5 (very satisfied).
For the full survey details, please refer to the ESC / Drewy websites.
Source: ESC (European Shippers Council) & Drewry
