TRUMP ELECTION ROUNDS OFF SHIPPING'S ANNUS HORRIBILIS

摘要

When China joined the World Trade Organisation in 2002, the impact on the container trades was immediate and dramatic. The prospect of China becoming a fully paid-up member of the global economy lifted charter and freight rates out of the doldrums within a matter of months as owners and operators geared up for a huge surge in cargo volumes. This was well before the era of super-sized containerships but charter rates for 1,700 teu vessels, then the workhorses of their day, soared from record lows of close to $6,000 per day in early 2002 to more than $30,000 three years' later, before the boom ended.