With intense competition causing a rates war that is driving down prices, and the major trade lanes facing an imbalance in supply and demand, the management side of the liner shipping industry is not an easy place to be, says NYK Line chief executive Jeremy Nixon. "It's quite a lonely, cold, dark place on occasion, with a lot of challenges," Mr Nixon told Containerisation International during an interview at the Global Liner Shipping Asia conference held in Singapore in September. Mr Nixon says container shipping has become a commoditised industry, where rates are set by supply and demand. But the supply and demand side has recently become out of equilibrium, leading to volatility and sharp swings in rates. "We need to somehow find a way in collaboration with our customers and the industry regulators to create more stability in the way the market prices," Mr Nixon says. "Carriers cannot control prices. We live in a regulatory environment where operators cannot come together and decide on pricing levels. We are working on pure economics, which is why we are seeing such volatility."
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