The global container shipping mar ket has plunged into a black hole. A sharp downturn in global trade, excessive deployment of additional ship capacity by carriers and rate falls of up to 50 percent have undermined the market faster than anybody expected. A year ago, volumes on the transpacific, Asia/ Europe and transatlantic trades were booming at double-digit annual growth rates, with record imports into North America. But in the first half of 2001, volume growth in these three key trades, as well as other routes, virtually came to a halt, shaking the entire industry and leading to a cycle of cuts in freight rates.
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